I Belong to You
by Dumbledoor
Summary: All human. Bella, with the "flighty mother," starts out as Eric's friend, then at one point dates the theatrical Tyler Crowley, and manages to dodge co-worker Mike's attempts. All the while, there's Edward Cullen lurking in her mind ;P
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry several chapters are in one "page," but I get lazy uploading documents.  
Stephenie Meyer owns** rights and has property over the _Twilight_ series.

Who needs all the heart-pounding action and sweat-inducing sensual scenes anyway (looks around nervously)? _This_ story is going to be nice and easy.

* * *

**"My, How You Have Grown" **

* * *

_ONE: ERIC YORKIE'S TWELVE MINUTES_

-

MAY, SOPHOMORE YEAR

Today I worried about gym class. We were going to run the mile, and in a town like Forks where a sunny day comes rarely, a cloudless sky was never wasted. Long story short, _every_body in the sophomore class had to test today. Not a hard task, considering there were only about ninety sophomores in Forks High School.

"Come on let's move those feet!" Coach Clapp blew his whistle. Standing on the track, he pretended to be a police officer, holding his stopwatch to time the students passing by.

He ignored the grumbles and complaints that were sung in unison by my classmates. Tyler Crowley, probably the loudest kid in class, danced his way around groups of girls, elbowing them rather harshly and laughing out loud.

"Ready to run the mile, girls?" Tyler asked when he passed Jessica and Lauren. They giggled and twirled their hair, looking self-consciously around as they confessed that No, they were _so_ not ready to sweat and get a zero in the end.

Beside me, Angela Weber scoffed. "Why do they have to act like that?" she asked her boyfriend Ben Cheney.

I was grateful for Angela and Ben, because, even though they did not talk to me directly, they did not make a show of _suddenly_ noticing me or staying out of my way.

So I walked a close distance from the couple, listening to their conversation as if it were my own. As if I were part of their friendship. I've lived my whole life in Forks like this, and somehow I've deluded myself into thinking it's okay. Somehow, someday, I'll change things. I'll live somewhere and never look back here.

At least, that's what I thought as I walked toward the awaiting rest of the class. I was never good at sports, and this was known to the rest of them, whom I've grown up with but never considered friends. I assured myself that the mile test would be over before I knew it.

Coach Clapp began to organize how the testing was supposed to go. "Boys go first," he said. "So girls stay by the bleachers and stretch. Boys, come here by the starting line. Four laps in seven minutes or under gets you a hundred. From there, we'll work out how many points you lose when you pass that seven-minute mark."

As the teacher spoke, my eyes roamed the students preparing to run. There was a surprising diversity among the boys, and it was comical how each and every one of them represented one part of the world. There was a lot of pride and competition among the boys. On the plus side, sometimes they got so competitive that they'd leave me alone.

On the other hand, their competition had some nasty results, toward me in particular. And I'm _not_ talking about a male fight to see "who gets Bella's first kiss" or anything close to that. As complicated and heart-tearing as that sounds, I think anyone would choose that situation over mine.

Allow me to demonstrate.

As I observed a half of the student body, I so happened to be glancing at Edward Cullen's tying his sneakers when he too looked at me. Don't ask me _why_ he looked at me—in my opinion, he should've been looking at his _shoes_ if he was tying their laces—but it was very unfortunate, because it provoked him to do what he did best.

He straightened up. We were far away from each other, so he had to shout what he said, "You lookin' at me, Swan?"

Of course, I blushed. I got angry at myself. The boys and girls snickered. Coach Clapp shook his head.

"As I was _say_ing," Clapp continued, ending all murmurs, "the boys go first, then the girls. For the girls, eight minutes gives you a hundred." He motioned for us to walk toward the bleachers, and after some more whines from the whinier girls, we walked. Angela once again let me walk _almost_ next to her.

We were passing by the group of boys. I could see some of us shifting our hair, giggling softly, or just genially smiling. I turned my face forward, tried to stop the urge to just stare at the ground like I've been defeated.

"Gonna trip today, Swan?" Jasper Hale whispered as I walked by. I didn't even look at him as I eyed the silver benches.

I saw Mike Newton grinning at me. He nudged Eric Yorkie, who worriedly looked at me through his glasses. You could say he was one of the few people I liked, and one of the un_like_liest people to be liked.

"Wanna go on a date with me, _Be_lla?" Mike Newton said. "Your mom could come along; she'll make it so much more fun—"

I had glared and brushed past him without listening for more. I've heard it one too many times.

Finally, I sat down on a bleacher. I was the first person to sit, so I chose the lowest rung. I put my arms around my knees and glared at the trashcan to my left.

Other girls started to sit around me, but I knew there would be a big distance that singled me out as a loner.

"So Bella," Victoria said loudly. "Why _were_ you looking at Edward?"

I didn't want to look at her, but I also did not want to seem deaf, so I turned around and faced Victoria Messing. Her vivid red hair was tied in a neat ponytail. She sat next to Rosalie Hale and Kate Denalis.

Kate immediately added, "Yeah I saw that. You have a crush on him or something?" Automatically other girls laughed. Others offered a nervous chuckle.

"No, I really don't have a crush on him." I tried to sound strong. I really did. But the obnoxious ones always get heard.

Rosalie stood up, brushing her blond hair past her shoulders. "Roy!" she called. Her boyfriend, Roy King, was running next to Edward. Those two were very handsome and well liked, no doubt, but they had this thing where they'd pick on me or people like me—for example, Eric Yorkie.

"Baby!" Rosalie yelled, making every boy look at her. "Tell Edward that Bella likes him! She told us herself!"

Edward winked. "Aw, Isa_bel_la, you don't have to be shy about it. We could get together, and your mom could—"

Coach Clapp blew his whistle. "Cut it out, Cullen!"

The funny thing is, at first—in third grade—I fancied Cullen had a crush on me, that's why he'd annoy me. He'd take my lunch and then I'd have to chase him around the cafeteria until a teacher would tell us to sit down and eat.

But then the other boys joined in on his fun. They praised him for making a girl angry. Then Edward Cullen stepped up his antics. The hurtful prank calls, the insecurity that only I felt, the rumors that everyone but me enjoyed—Edward was a good bully. He was antisocial toward _me_; he felt no remorse for hurting my feelings. I remember he stole my history project and when I tried to get it back, he told everyone that I was the thief. The teacher at the time believed his side of the story, but as years went by it was made clear who the victim always will be.

By the way, the fastest boys had finished by then. They held their heads high and strolled toward the girls. You could tell they were trying hard not to shake from how sore their muscles got or how lopsided their walk became.

Edward Cullen placed himself two seats behind me.

I concentrated on the track. Only Eric Yorkie was left, because Rob "Pudgy" Binns had walked aside and vomited two orders of today's lunch.

Probably looking at the same direction, Edward spoke. "You gonna puke as well, _Isa_bella? You get nauseous easily, don't you?"

The thing is, I don't like answering rhetoric. I shrugged and kept my eyes on Yorkie, aware of the laughs. I make it too easy for him, don't I?

Come on, Eric, you can make it under twelve minutes. Clapp's still timing you. You still got a chance to prove 'em wrong. The boy was panting and his head was lolling side-to-side. Pale, skinny arms flailed as if a string had control of his limbs.

"The poor guy's wheezing," Benji Wu commented not sympathetically.

"Look at him!" Mike Newton added. "He's gonna pass out, just like last year." This time it was he who was wheezing from laughter.

A bunch of Ohs and Oh yeahs followed, and I mentally urged Eric to keep going. For the boys, a mile over twelve minutes was a zero. The girls' had a minute more, but lucky for me I've always passed just under ten minutes, making me average at running. However, my disastrous performance at gym in general rightfully pegged me as clumsy and a loser of all competition.

Before I could scream or cheer or say anything at all, Eric Yorkie was walking. Coach Clapp pocketed his stopwatch and quickly wrote on his grade book.

A round of grins followed Yorkie as he sat sulkily on the bleachers. He caught my eye and I smiled, and then averted my eyes. Later on I'd learn that he got a zero, but he didn't look so defeated then.

"Alright! Let's get the girls on the track." With renewed enthusiasm the teacher rounded us up and again explained what we were to do. I saw the boys laughing. Eric Yorkie was walking to the bathroom.

I was standing at the very back of the group when Clapp blew the whistle for go.

A little delayed, I started. I knew that pacing was key, so I didn't push hard for the three laps. I didn't pay attention to who was first or last; I made quick lane changes whenever I passed someone. The final lap I made an excruciating effort. Silly, because I knew the feeling when it came. The sudden burning in your lungs, the way it spread and paralyzed your legs—at least, made you _think_ you absolutely cannot move anymore.

With 400 meters curved ahead, my mind wandered. I begged for it to think about anything but fatigue.

The first thing I saw was Jasper Hale's blond hair being ruffled by someone's hand. They were acting how friends acted, laughing and teasing without harm.

I felt myself slow down.

Also, I looked at Eric Yorkie, who'd come back and was answering some questions from smug-looking boys. Mike Newton, the coward, was among them.

The blur created by the speed was clearing.

Up ahead at the bleachers, I saw the boy with bronze-colored hair and pale skin and athletic body sitting all by himself. Edward was watching us. It took me a moment to realize he was staring at _me_, at my face.

So my first instinct was to run faster, to run the curve and turn my back on him.

Why would he be looking at me? Was I running all weird? I checked my sneakers. Not untied.

The good thing about running is that it is encouraged to keep your head down at all times. It's some psychological thing that makes the track shorter.

"Eight minutes and thirty seconds good job Swan," Coach Clapp announced in a rush as I passed. He was as shocked as I was.

Instead of being impressed with how much I'd improved from last year, I felt a rush of dread that quelled the adrenaline in my body.

Great. Now I was the only girl among the people seated on the bleachers. No one else had finished, though I saw Irina had half a lap left.

"Swan finished first, whoa!" Some of the boys had their hands raised in mock appreciation. It made me change my course and sit next to Eric Yorkie, who smiled at me.

"Great job." His voice squeaked, and it sounded worse that it usually was because everyone else shushed to listen to what the two dorks would say to each other.

"Thanks," I said. We turned our heads to watch the girls finish up.

When the girls finished, the teacher set up a game of kickball, but everyone else just sat around and talked. I sat beside Eric. Between him and me, he was being more social because he actually talked to Rob Binns, asking him if he was okay or if he went to the nurse.

"I'm fine," Rob insisted, holding his chest as it heaved. "It's just my asthma."

We had exactly twelve minutes left of class when we were summoned to go back inside.

"Good job today guys," Coach said. "You too, Miss Swan," he half-whispered to me as I passed. I looked up at his old face, the sinew of muscles apparent on his neck.

I smiled. That had _got_ to be a first.

Eric saw our exchange. When I looked at him, he blushed and laughed nervously.

"Sorry," he said awkwardly as we walked a long way behind the rest of the class. "But really, g-great job at the mile. D'you run a lot?"

"No, not really," I told him. "You did okay, too, I guess."

This was also a first. Even though we sometimes stayed together, we never actually uttered more than one sentence to each other. Yeah, I bet you now have no doubt about how weird and unsocial I am—I've become.

Eric told me how embarrassed he felt when he finished last, and have Coach Clapp tell him he should start training because considering how skinny he is, he'd be a main target for jocks.

"And it doesn't help that they know I'm in advanced classes," he muttered. We were all crowded by the entrance doors to the gym, waiting two by two for us to enter.

Just then the seniors came by, having just finished lacrosse. Laurent Lao, baseball team's captain, sauntered by and hit Eric's arm. "That,s right, Dorky," he jeered, "don't forget: you still have my English assignment to finish over the weekend."

Eric scowled but didn't show it, because the seniors passed by and turned their attention to the "cool" sophomores.

"Yo, Eddie-boy, wassup?" Laurent patted him on the back.

Edward grinned at him. He'd always hated the nickname Eddie. "Emmett's having a party this Friday. It's his birthday. You think you can come?"

The older boy smiled real wide, and, after about ten seconds of slapping Edward on the back and making gang signs, Laurent said he could make it.

Eric had been hugging his triceps the whole time.

Just then Mike came by. "Hey Edward, remember Eric's mile?" He laughed. "What was your time, Eric?"

This guy annoyed me. Not only did he insult Eric Yorkie, he also treated him like a friend some other times. The problem I have with Newton is that he _knows_ the difference between a good friend and a shitty bastard. He also knows how to act the former and the latter.

"I got a thirteen forty," Eric mumbled.

You could tell Edward and Laurent laughed painfully at this.

"Pathetic," Laurent smugly said. "You comin' to the party, Dorky?" He raised his eyebrows. "Plenty of non-imaginary _gi_-irls!" he sang.

The line was moving forward. Only two more pairs and we'd be inside, where I can separate off to the girls' locker room.

Edward laughed too. "Yeah, Yorkie, sure you can come." He snorted another snicker. "You too, Swan. I'd love to see _you_ in a party outfit. For you, I'd make it a costume party."

"Shut up."

"Then you can wear a bunny outfit," he continued.

"_Ugh_." I shoved past him so I could enter the gym. He laughed behind me.

"Just like _Miss_ Rene—"

I had turned around and shoved him as hard as I could. He gasped but unfortunately I was too weak to move him more than a foot back. On instinct, he'd held on to my arms. It was pathetic how hard I struggled getting out of his grip. He was too surprised to let go of me immediately.

In that second or two when I'd felt my arms trapped, I became aware that there was no fighting this guy. Call me depressed, but some things you just can't _phys_ically do. I mean, he was a foot taller than me, and way more muscular.

_Jeez_. This was unfair.

"The hell you're trying to do?" Edward asked, amused. It didn't help that Eric had gone and left me with all the seniors passing by, not caring what a bunch of underclassmen were up to. No, that was a lie; even senior girls had a crush on Sexy Hair Cullen. It didn't hurt that Sexy Hair had a brother, Good Guy Quarterback. There are other equally obnoxious nicknames, but I won't say them now, not when I have something else to tell.

"Just_ stop_, okay?" I swung my hand away and hurried to the lockers.

* * *

_TWO: THE YEAR SINKS SLOWLY BY. . .  
_

- -

Sophomore year meant Chemistry. For some girls, it meant asking the sweet, smart guys to help them set things on fire or hold a test tube clamp together.

For others—for example, _me_—Chemistry was multitasking. I had to observe for reactions, record, and mix the chemicals. I had to see through the rubbery eye goggles that were scratched. I had to make sure my current partner _appeared_ to be doing something, or else Mr. Hunt would ask me about it and I'd be switched to another partner.

That already happened, like, twelve times. All the good angels of Chem class were taken, apparently.

Nate Stroy, that awful slacker who liked to skateboard wherever it was prohibited, was burning the eraser of his pencil over the flame.

"So we just what—wait for this thing to bubble?"

"What thing?" I asked. Because we were working with solid metals, not liquids.

Mr. Hunt had passed by and heard this. "Nathaniel, stop burning the eraser! It smells god-awful already in here." He snatched the blackened pencil. "And for Pete's sake wear your goggles."

Stroy groaned. "Alright, alright."

But he moved too sluggish. Mr. Hunt sent him to the office.

"Next time, Isabella," he scolded slightly, "your partner will be—er..."

I returned to the experiment as he scanned for possibilities.

"Edward," he decided.

Mr. Hunt was the newest and youngest teacher in Forks High. This year was his first year. He coached the track team, and was very fond of athletic people like Emmett and Edward Cullen. His fiancee recently worked as a nurse for Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

I didn't even bother to act angry.

At first Jessica Stanley had thrown a fit, but after a while Edward told her to shut whining and just "make do" with their Chemistry time left.

So the next day, Edward and I sat down. It was surprising that he acquiesced to being my lab partner.

"Knew you couldn't stay away from me," he said. "We're gonna have so much fun, aren't we?"

Oh. No wonder he agreed so readily.

"Sure," I replied flatly.

"Your mom doing good?" What a great conversationalist he was.

"Wouldn't know." I gritted my teeth.

I could see his suppressing a smile. "Oh, that's _right_. She's in Phoenix, right? Yeah when's the last time you visited her?" He mused. "I'm thinking you should pay her a visit. It'd do you some good—get you a tan even." He chuckled. "I bet you'd look—"

"I don't _care_ what you _bet_ on anything, alright?"

Edward laughed. He really thought this was funny, that's what bugged me. "Don't have to be so de_fen_sive, Bella. If you didn't want to talk about it, just say so."

"I wasn't being defensive, that doesn't even —"

"You're always defensive."

"—make any sense," I finished and turned my head away. This town was depressing. Out the window, a dark sky stood behind dark green trees and sad-looking cars.

Class started, Mr. Hunt assigned us a project. "In lieu of giving you guys a _ver_y hard chapter test like I've been doing for the past nine months," he began, passing papers to the class, "I've assigned you guys a project."

The class groaned.

"You can work with a partner, which I very much encourage." He slapped a packet of papers on our table. "That way you might work a little better, and hopefully I won't be answering e-mails all day explaining why some of you can't seem to get past a C average." He slammed the remaining papers harshly on his desk. "This is chem, people, not rocket science. A little logic and common sense may be required, yes? So, get on to it."

Everyone started standing and asking others to be his/her partner. Edward and I just sat where we were.

"Are you working alone?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," I said.

He nodded. "Me too."

I blinked. Not any of my business.

However, Mr. Hunt ended up putting us as partners because people couldn't assign themselves with a partner without shouting or fighting.

"I try to give you people some freedom, this is what happens," Mr. Hunt sighed. "Ah... I've got a headache. You know what to do, get to it. I'm goin' to step out to the nurse really quickly."

Edward and I got an A for our project. We had to demonstrate and explain one type of chemical reaction, our choice of course. We picked the easiest one, combination reaction, because basically you just combine two reactants to make one product.

We met two times in the library, making a PowerPoint and a poster on the same day. He was really smart, and he was one of those people who can slack off in high school and get good grades. School came pretty easy to me, but lately I've had to continually review so I won't lose grasp of what I learn.

Anyway, my whole point is that when Edward did not want to cause trouble, he was a nice guy to have as a lab partner. I did not switch partners for the rest of the year. Of course, we didn't really make much small talk.

Partly because we already knew so much about each other. We've (I mean almost everyone in my grade, or the whole school for that matter) known each other since kindergarten. There was no need to ask how someone's family is doing unless he's your close friend, because chances are the Forks' gossipers have already told you.

That's just how we stayed connected. It was half-sickening and half-convenient. It depends, mostly.

About a week before school ended, finals came up. For exempted seniors who got a 90 or higher, school was officially over. Everyone was giddy for summer to come.

"Party at me house, everyone!" Tanya Denalis, Kate and Irina's sister, shouted to the classroom before our English final was given out. "Everyone is invited! Starts at nine!"

"There's plenty of time for that later, Miss Denalis," Mrs. Lafferty scolded, but even she could not hide her smile.

"Be there," Tanya hastily added before she picked up her pencil and saw the paper.

I knew how she felt. The test had been _generous_ on essay questions and readings. My hand cramped several times, it was a bother really.

"Have a good vacation, everyone," the teacher called out to us as the bell rang.

Because it was a half day, that meant no after school clubs; the buses were going to be filled. I skipped going to my locker and immediately went to my bus.

I took the second from the front seat. Of course I sat on the _supposed_ two-seater. _Real_ly it would be a one-seater if the bus were used for commercial purposes, but here at school it was considered roomy enough for two squished teens.

Ben Cheney sat next to me. Bless him and Angela, I always say.

"Hi, Bella."

"Hey Ben."

"Did you have your Chem final yet?"

"No, I have it tomorrow."

We both smiled at the prospect of tomorrow.

The driver stopped at Reservation Rd.

He stood up before he got carried by the current of students starting from the back. "Well see'ya."

"Bye," I waved. The students next to me gave me weird looks. I turned my head away, rolled my eyes, and started thinking about home.

I had to walk five minutes from my stop to my house. Bleeker Avenue was one of the longest here in Forks, and I was somewhere in the middle of it.

As I trudged on the slight uphill, a black coupe passed by.

I looked at the driver, but it was the mischievous passenger who grinned when he saw me. He reached for the steering wheel and pressed two beeps.

Emmett Cullen, Edward's older brother, shoved him with his elbow and sped along.

I shook my head. "One more day 'til summer. One more day..."

* * *

_THREE: PLAYIN' AND HAVING FUN  
_

_- - -  
_

The first day of summer vacation marked my first day as an employee of Newton's Outfitters. I had _begged_, re_peat_edly, that I work at Dunkin' Donuts or even The Bagel Place, but Charlie said they were too far. I had my permit, but no license yet, so Charlie was the one who had to drive me to and from work everyday except Sundays. He thought a fifteen-minute drive was not worth being paid on a part-time basis.

"'Sides," he reasoned, "it'll be good to stay in the know about Forks."

I scoffed. "That's ex_act_ly what I wanna do the whole summer. Stay in touch with Forks." I saw his face and quickly apologized. "I didn't mean it like that."

Charlie smiled. "I know, kid. You grow up each day." He slapped on my orange Newton's Outfitters cap. "Now go make some money."

I grumbled and got out of the car to get ready for my first day of work.

First customer—Charlie Swan, a forty-three year old who was wearing his police uniform and a beaming smile.

"_Dad_," I said. "Wasn't the picture from the window enough?"

He shook his head. "I'd like to buy some fish bait, please," he indicated seriously.

"You want me to open the can of worms." I frowned.

Charlie snapped a photo of my handing him his purchase. He also gave me a ten dollar tip.

"Thank you for coming, have a nice day," I called to him merrily.

When he left and my _real_ work began, it was pretty boring. The only person with me was Mrs. Karen Newton, Mike Newton's mom. She was really conscious of her appearance. She'd been wearing make-up everyday since I could remember. Her earrings were dangly and her blond hair was springy with curls.

Mrs. Newton had that patronizing habit of calling me honey.

"Honey, can you clean up on aisle five? Some gentleman broke one of the lanterns," she ordered one fine day.

I had been on break, eating a sandwich, and when I'd returned there was a pile of broken glass and the lamp frame.

"I'll get right on it," I called as I went over the storage closet. Ah, it was annoying when people did those kinds of things. But who was I to talk? I broke things all the time—granted they were usually a bone or a sprain in my body.

I could hear the perpetrator apologizing. "I'm sorry, I'll pay for it. I was just getting a call... I—"

Mrs. Newton interrupted, "Don't worry about it, dear, it happens to all of us. No need to pay for somethin' you're not gettin', 'kay?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Newton." The voice could only belong to _you-know-who_. No, not Voldemort, but _you-know-who_.

I veered off to the closet and got out the yellow cart of janitorial stuff. That thing came in handy, let me tell you. It had wipes, disinfectants, a broom, mop, a bucket, possibly anything you'd need to clean. It also had a mini vacuum for small clutter left by kids snacking.

"Now go along Edward, Isabella here is gonna take care of it," Mrs. Newton reassured the customer.

I imagined before I actually saw his smirk when he asked, curiously, "Isabella _Swan_ works here?"

Stunned, I slowed my pushing of the cart to a halt.

Mrs. Newton, however, alighted when she sparked an interest in the young boy. "Yes, yes! Started here a couple of days ago." She pointed a finger. "Bella, honey, come here and clean up."

"Coming." Finally I turned to the aisle and saw Edward standing next to the shorter Mrs. Newton.

"Ah... Isa_bel_la. How nice to see you here."

The taunt in his tone was apparent, as it caused Mrs. Newton to drop her jaw open and take on a surprised look.

"I'll be at the cashier okay, honey?" she said.

I nodded.

"Does Mike work here with you?" was his first question.

"No." I shuddered. I had considered that alarming possibility, but after being assured by both parents that Mike was not going to work this summer, I applied for a job here.

I swept all the broken pieces and carefully flung them at the plastic bag. He just stood there and began to snicker.

I rolled my eyes. _I was not the one who was stupid enough to drop a lamp. I will not be immature. I will not get riled up by this _bas_tard._

His eyes crinkled. He really was laughing at me! Sick, boastful, son of a—

"I really don't mean to laugh, but it's just you remind me so much of your mom!" He bit his lip. "Pfff—mmph."

"What the hell is your problem with my mom, Cullen?" I said. "If you care so much why don't _you_ go to Arizona."

Hearing those words out of my mouth made me want to hit myself. Even _I_ thought bad of my own mother.

That made him angry, but he should have known. "Listen, _Swan_, you _know_ exactly why this town curses about your mother like they do—"

"You mean like 'we do,' right?" I snapped."Out of all of _them_, you're probably the worst one."

With a flick of his wrist, Edward knocked down a_noth_er lantern. Only this time it was bigger, and had colored glass that shattered comp_let_ely when broken.

He seemed shocked by what he'd done, and for a second he looked sorry. Mrs. Newton had stepped out for a bit, probably out for a smoke.

"Renee _Dwy_er—or whomever it is she's married to now—has scammed possibly _ev_ery businessman affiliated with my _dad_." I didn't have the heart to tell him that there _was _an incident with a Mrs. Hannah Gregoy, which, after being _super_ friends with Renee, my mom got a private boat docked in New Jersey.

Edward was still seething. "And you know what happened? I lost him. I lost my _dad_ because some stupid bitch broke his heart."

I was fed up, but I was _pissed_ Edward would do this while I was at work.

"So what are you gonna _do_ about it; talk down on me in front of everyone else?" I snatched the broom to start cleaning up the second lantern. "I don't really _care_ what you think, I dunno why you haven't _grasped_ that concept yet."

He walked in front of me, and believe me it was hard not to back away. "You ruined my family. I just think you should be con_tin_ually reminded how shitty your life's gonna be while your here."

"Believe me, I can see just _how_ shitty life is from right _here_." I stared into his green eyes, equaling my rage with his.

I wanted to say I felt bad, because if I was Edward I too would hate Renee and feel the need to express that anger toward her daughter. Mr Edward Mason, Edward's real dad, had at one time been engaged to my mom, Renee. Edward was six, I was five years old. We pretended we were real siblings, but shortly after Renee had a change of heart and left. It had been a lucrative courtship, especially for my mom. Business at Mason Corp was doing excellent, and my mom was reaping all the benefits.

But it was not _my_ fault. I don't know how else to tell him that. I mean, didn't Carlisle Cullen, Edward's godfather, eventually raise him along with his own son Emmett? Life turned out great for him either way, in my opinion.

Oh, and speaking of the situation, the annoying Cullen had stood there, glaring at me.

"What happened now?" Mrs. Newton's voice broke into my thoughts.

Edward blinked and backed off. "Nothing, Mrs. Newton, Bella just knocked off this lamp while cleaning that one; you okay, Bella?"

"Just fine," I said icily.

Mrs Newton tsked. "Well just be careful next time, 'kay Hun?" She turned to Edward. "Perhaps _I _can help you find what you're looking for?"

"Oh, right, yeah," he said, laughing self-consciously. "My _mom_ wanted to buy something for her garden. I forget what it's called..."

"Oh," Mrs Newton looked at him with pity. "Could it be a shovel? Some azaleas? We have those at the back, I'll go get some and show you. Be right back."

Edward stood there and sighed.

"You came to a sport store for gardening stuff?" I asked blankly. "You know a flower shop is right down the street."

"Shut up," he muttered, annoyed. He then decided to just leave without a single word.

Mrs Newton came back, carrying a tray of flower pots. "Well, let's see here... Wait, where is he?" I told her, and she went back outside.

Can you believe that the very next morning, Mike Newton started to work at the store?

"Eddie told me you were working here, so why not, eh?" he teased. "It'll be an easy job; you do the work, I get some pay, Mom and Dad love me, yadda yadda yadda."

I wasted no time telling this to his mom. After they had a talk, Mike's confidence decreased to a less delusional level. He wasn't very good at cleaning up or stacking things, but at least his remarks weren't that bad. People like Mike couldn't really function without an audience.

So, fortunately for him, his friends came to visit one afternoon. I'd been working for a week.

Jasper Hale was first. "Hey, Bella." He smiled, and he actually looked friendly.

"Hi," I answered, a little confused.

Tyler came in next, looking happy as usual. "Mike, guess what? Edward got a car! It's right outside look."

"Whoa." We all looked at the shiny Volvo parked outside.

"He's just gonna buy some ice cream," Tyler explained, because we saw Edward walking the opposite direction, counting some dollar bills.

I shook my head. Why the hell was _I_ looking on? I got back to arranging a stack of fliers about an upcoming concert.

"So he drove you guys here?" Mike asked.

"Yeah dude we went over eighty!" Tyler told him. He sat on the counter, and then he turned his head to face me. "Hey, Isabelle."

"Bella," I corrected him.

Tyler grinned. "What about Belle? Like in Beauty and the Beast. Belle, Belle, _Bell_a!" he sang.

Tyler Crowley had starred in two school musicals, one of them the adaptation of, yes, _Beauty and the Beast_. He was the best male singer and dancer in school, and also one of the most melodramatic ones. Histrionics went great with his personality.

Jasper laughed. "Cut it out, Crowley." His phone rang. When he looked at the screen, his eyes widened in alarm.

"Ooooh!" Mike and Tyler shouted. Jasper blushed.

Tyler snatched his cell phone and answered it for him. "Hey, Alice! Tyler Crowley here. Jasper is right now hanging with me and this other girl Bella." He grinned at me, while also dodging Jasper's frantic fist. "You remember her, right? Really pretty, long brown hair, likes to get good grades."

Tyler nodded his head, listening to what Alice said.

"Oh, what is he doing with Bella?" he repeated her, I'm guessing. He raised his eyebrow up and down. "Well let me tell you."

I protested by trying myself to get the phone. "Don't!" I said the same time Jasper did.

"He just asked her to a movie—_mmmpf_!" Jasper had tackled Tyler from the counter, while I conveniently caught the phone in my hand. I looked at it for a second, and then blinked.

"_What?" _The voice demanded when I put the phone in my ear. Mike was laughing so hard he was sitting on the floor, and the other two were still rolling along, being boys.

"Alice? This is Bella," I said, becoming nervous all of a sudden.

"Bella, hi!" Alice's voice was enthusiastic and not mean at all, but she was a bit fast. "How are you? Are you with Tyler and Jasper?—Wait, Tyler's lying isn't he? Where are you guys?"

"I work at Newton's Outfitters," I told her. "They just stopped by for Mike, so don't worry about anything."

"Oh, no I'm not worried about _that_," she said breezily. "We're gonna watch a movie tonight, and I just wanted to ask which he wanted to see. Turns out Rosalie and Emmett are coming too." She sighed. "Then after they wanted to come, suddenly _Laur_en and Tyler wanted in too."

"Oh," I offered as a comment. Jasper was pulling on Tyler's hair, which was so short he was using his fingertips to do it. Tyler yelled, "Ow!"

Alice was still speaking on the phone. "—so you should come with us."

"What?"

"Seriously! Come with us! I'll have Emmett drive us there," she insisted.

Um, was she trying to throw me into the sharks?

"No, thank you."

"Come on, Bella. It's just a movie! Jasper and I'll be with you the whole time." Alice, like everyone in school, knew about my unpopularity.

"That's really nice, Alice, but really, I couldn't—"

"Okay, here's the deal," she firmly said. "I stay by your side, and _no_ one's gonna bother you, and you'll have fun!"

I was not even close to considering it, but she was so nice about it.

"Maybe next time," I said.

"Maybe next time what?" Edward asked from behind me. I quickly turned around and there he was, staring at what was happening.

"Who's that?" Alice asked.

"Ooh, look: Edward's got ice cream!" Tyler yelled to Jasper, who was contemplating on letting go.

"Maybe next time what?" Edward repeated. He was holding a plastic bag on one hand and his wallet on the other. "Is that Jasper's phone?"

"Edward's there too?" Alice sounded surprised. "He said he got his car..." she mumbled.

Sometimes when you don't talk as much as a regular person does, talking to two people at once can be overwhelming.

"Um, yeah, this is Jasper's phone, which I should give back," I decided, but to Alice I said, "And yes, Edward's here. Did you want to talk to him?"

Alice giggled. "Wow, I wish I were there right now."

I laughed too. How weird; I wished I was _any_where but here.

Edward looked on with amusement, as I tried to hand Jasper his phone. Jasper gave Tyler one last small kick on the foot, smiled, and talked to Alice for a while.

"Maybe next time what?" Edward said.

"_What_?"

"Why were you talking to Alice?" he asked instead.

"Oh, well, it just happened I guess," I said.

He seemed to find this interesting. He reached into the plastic and started tossing some Popsicles to his friends. He himself didn't eat one, though I was sure there was still something inside the bag. He placed an elbow lazily on the counter space in front of me.

Lovely. Newton's Outfitters was going to be their hangout spot now. I sat down on the stool, staring at the lazy afternoon. The sun almost setting, it cast long shadows on the dark trees and tall lamp posts.

"Edward, dude, how'd you get your dad to buy you a car?" Mike asked.

He shrugged. "Carlisle said it was fine. It was my birthday, and Emmett kept complaining about not having enough space."

Jasper snickered. "Enough space for my sister, that's what. You know Emmett's the reason why Rose broke up with Roy." He licked his chocolate Popsicle thoughtfully. "Hey Bella?" he suddenly asked.

They all looked at me.

"What," I said warily.

"Alice told me..." He scratched the back of his head. "She told me to tell you that, um..."

"_What!_" Edward demanded. He was furiously looking between Jasper and me.

"Dude, calm down," he said to Edward. Then to me, "She just told me to tell you that we're, um, picking you up at your house at eight."

My eyes widened. "But I, I told her—"

"'Maybe next time'?" Edward quoted. I glared.

Tyler hooted. "My, my, Bella's gonna hang with us now!" He stood up, ran over to me, and, even when I held my hands out and backed away, he scooped me from the chair and swung me around, as if I had come down a step from the fountain and we were singing show tunes about being young and free.

I gasped, but then I yelled, "Hey, what the hell?" when he kissed my cheek.

"Oh, Bella, you gotta loosen up," Tyler advised in a trilling voice. "The world is such a melancholy place without your smile."

From the very back of my mind, I wanted to comment.

Edward made a sickened sound. It sounded like _eckh_. "Well _I'm_ going home. All I wanted was some ice cream."

Mike's eyes grew big. "Oh, okay, see 'ya guys," he called out. "Hey, any chance _I_ can catch a ride with you to the movies tonight?"

A look was passed among the three. "Y-yeah, Edward'll pick you up," Tyler decided, gaining a painful nudge from Edward. "Ow! You'll be there, a'ight?"

Jasper waved at me. "We'll be at your house by eight. Don't worry about paying for anything." He saw my skepticism. "_She_ said it," he muttered darkly.

For whatever reason, maybe it was Jasper's and Alice's friendliness, I agreed.

Edward grunted, then left for his car, followed by the others.

Mike and I were left alone for a few moments. He was blushing. "D'you think they really meant what they—"

He stopped talking when we heard the door rush open. It created a loud smack as it hit the wall and then swing back shut.

Edward's long strides took him to the counter in less than five seconds. He took something from the plastic bag he was still holding. "Here," he said stiffly. He placed it in front of me and left.

When he'd gotten in his car, he gave me one last look before backing out and driving away.

I looked at the Strawberry Shortcake Popsicle sitting on the counter. Huh. My favorite.

"Whoa," Mike said.

"You think he poisoned it?" I joked.

* * *

_FOUR: FAKE BRAVERY  
_

_- - - -  
_

Perhaps you'd want to know what happened at the movies? Well, by all means, read on. But I'd like to clarify that this _is_ the same story, which centers on a slightly naive teen; the events that will occur are nothing short of fantastical for me, but maybe for some it's just another one of those movie nights.

By the time eight o' clock rolled in, I was sitting in the living room, chewing on my nails and wondering if it had been wise to wear my favorite pair of jeans and a top that Charlie said looked very "charming" on me. The shirt had a ribbon by the collar, which I tied, retied, tied again and again as the night progressed.

I saw a car pull up on the driveway. A short while later, Alice knocked. "Bella, we're here!"

I sighed. I opened the door. "Hi, Alice." Walking toward the car, it surprised me to see Edward's Volvo instead of a hulking Jeep.

Alice saw my inquisitive look. "Emmett and Rose are picking up Mike," she explained, opening the passenger door for me. "So Edward's all we've got!" She threw me an apologetic smile.

I sat at the back, with Jasper and Edward in front.

I think my seat was a worse choice than the front passenger seat because the mirror reflected directly into Edward's eyes.

Jasper said hi. I replied the same. Edward said nothing.

But Alice, however, did not let the awkwardness ruin my misery. "Bella, I really like that top. Which stores do you usually go to?"

"Um, usually I buy stuff online," I said. Truth is, I don't like shopping for clothes much.

Jasper's phone rang. "Um, okay? We'll meet you in a half hour then. Bye. Rose it's not my fault, okay? Bye." He snapped his phone shut and turned to Edward. "They're gonna be a bit late, Mike's still getting ready."

Edward laughed. "See? And that could've been _me_ waiting for the douche." He looked at me, from the mirror of course. "Was Chief Swan still at work?" Edward actually liked my dad. Maybe it's because Charlie had always been intent on keeping me at his house, and away from the Masons', when Renee and Edward Mason had become involved.

I returned his gaze. "Yeah, he won't be home 'til twelve."

"So you could stay up late!" Alice rejoiced. "Good thing, too; there are about two good movies out there, now we can watch one and sneak into the other!"

Edward looked amused. "How do you know there are only _two_ good movies? "

"Went on Rotten Tomatoes?" suggested Jasper.

Alice huffed. "You can tell by the commercials."

A few minutes later, we arrived. There were ten of us total, but we huddled in small groups. "Don't want to seem like freakin' elementary kids on a field trip," Rosalie muttered. She was wearing a bright red top and a black flowery skirt, both of which attracted a lot of male eyes. Emmett's hawk eyes glared every direction.

The theater wasn't packed, for some reason or another. It was just one of those days I guess, when everyone else was outside enjoying the breezy night. We were seated and the previews had come up.

Alice's eyes widened as the screen showed the trailer of _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_. "Oh my God," I saw her mouth. As promised, Alice was on my right, and Jasper was to my left. He didn't mind sitting next to the aisle, though I think he _was_ annoyed he didn't sit next to Alice.

"Alice, it doesn't come out 'til next week. Chill," Jasper teased. She giggled and sipped on her soda. I had a feeling she did that to get his eyes on her lips, because Jasper's eyes were locked on her face the whole time.

Hmm. Quite uncomfortable I was.

"Jasper, want to switch seats?" I asked, finally, when the movie was about to show.

Without a word we changed seats. Across the aisle was Edward, but it wasn't like we needed to talk. I noticed we were both eating Butterfingers. But I didn't mention it.

The movie was disappointing. I almost fell asleep, but caught myself when the credits rolled in with really loud music.

"Alice, you were _so_ wrong," Edward complained as we walked out. "That was the most horrible movie I've ever seen. I think the puke in my throat's the only thing that kept me awake."

"Don't blame me if you can't appreciate some light romantic comedy," Alice said. She and Jasper were holding hands. "_I _thought it was okay."

I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Jasper was smiling.

Edward scowled at the sight of them. "That's because you and Jasper weren't paying attention to the movie—which I wasted eight dollars on."

"Oh, cry me a river, big baby," Alice muttered. Her face brightened as she lead us to another theatre. "Ready to go see the next one?"

Judging from the movie poster, the movie looked like it was going to be equally fluffy as the previous we'd just watched. My nose squinched.

"Er, Alice, I think I'm just gonna..." I didn't want to flat out refuse, but I really wanted to. Luckily, Edward spoke his opinion.

"_No_," he firmly said. "I'd rather just walk around in the mall and wait 'til you finish watching."

At this Jasper seemed to have difficulty with. "Come on, Edward, just one more movie."

"Pssh, you guys can just flirt among yourselves; I'm not gonna be there if it involves watching this romantic crap." He waved over the theatre, which was steadily being occupied. He looked at my face. "Even _Bella _doesn't want to."

We were all blushing by then, Alice, Jasper, and I. Alice and Jasper because their intentions were so obvious, while I because my disinterest showed too much.

Alice sighed. "Well, if you guys don't want to watch this, you can go just... hang out I guess. Jasper and I are going in." Still holding hands, they disappeared with the other couples entering. A little while later we saw Rosalie and Emmett, followed by Lauren and Tyler, go inside the theater.

God only knows exactly _if_ any of them actually watched the movie, but all I know is that about two months later, Lauren was fighting off rumors of having an abortion.

Presently, though, Edward and I walked through the movie theater to check out the movies.

"Honestly," Edward said, as if he was annoyed, "what do you want to do?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't really know. I guess I could look at the shops." Actually, all I wanted to do was stay at Barnes and Noble all night, maybe have a Starbuck's, maybe buy a CD, and definitely get some books.

He still looked annoyed, which was fine with me.

"I'll go with you then," he said.

Our walk to the mall, which was at the next building, was filled with uncomfortable silence. For one thing, I had a nagging urge to yell,_ What the hell are we doing, walking together like we _have_ to? _And for another thing, no one else was with us. I think the latter unnerved me more and made me cautious, because how did I know if he was going to hurl insults at me any second.

"Do you want to go to Barnes and Noble?" Edward asked as we passed it now. He held the door open.

"OK."

"OK good." He followed me in.

He left me alone while I browsed through the Fiction & Literature aisles, only to come back with two grande Frappuccinos.

He handed me one, which had _Bella_ markered on the side. "It's caramel." He raised his cup and sipped. "Or you could have mine; it's mocha."

I preferred mocha, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "You didn't have to get me one." I had yet to take the cup.

"I didn't poison it, if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I wasn't thinking that. I just thought that I could have gotten one for myself."

"So you'd rather I drink them both and get hyper on all the caffeine?"

I took the Caramel Frap. "You just didn't have to, that's all." I twirled the straw around as much as I can to mix the whipped cream in. I took a sip. "Thank you," I said.

We stood there for about a minute, just staring at the ground or at our drinks. A couple of slurps here and there, but mainly silence.

"OK, I gotta know," I said. "Why are you being so," I thought of the word, "well, not exactly _nice_, but..._nice_. Y'know?" Gosh for an A student I really had a way with words.

He looked down. He twirled the green straw in his drink, just like I had earlier. "It's not really a big deal; I can be nice to you if I want to."

"Isn't it weird for you, though? I'm just curious, I guess, why you'd go out of your way to act civil towards me."

He laughed. "I don't know? This whole situation's weird, but I'll just go along with it. I have a feeling Alice did this on purpose anyway."

"Alice? What do you mean?"

He then told me his theory that Alice, the devil plotter she is, had deliberately chosen a crappy movie so he and I would beg to leave and end up exactly to where we were.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Here as in drinking frappuccinos? Or here as in talking to each other. If it's the first then I gotta say kudos to Alice, if it's the second, well—things could've been worse."

Edward smirked. "I mean here as in I get a chance to apologize so we'd actually get along next year." He looked ready to say more.

"Are you serious?" I said, skeptical. "I'm sorry, I mean I'm all for forgiving and forgetting _for the sake of tonight, _but for next year?"

"Why not? It'll make things easier; I ignore you, you ignore me—which was basically all _you_ did to me the whole year."

"Is that why you bought me the ice cream the other day? So I'd forgive you?" I _knew_ that hadn't been poisoned for a reason.

"Bella, you don't have to forgive me; I'm just telling you I'm done, and I'm sorry, but most of all I'm done acting so...imma_ture_ly. That must've been hell for you."

I gritted my teeth. "Not _so_ hellish for me," I lied.

"Don't pretend you weren't hurt by the things I said," he said softly.

"Isn't that what the victim usually does to fake bravery?" I responded angrily. "Pretend that the bully didn't affect her like he wanted to?" Turning my back on him, I gripped on the frappuccino tighter and stomped my way across another aisle. On second thought, I left the cup on one of the bookshelves and continued walking to other aisles.

So maybe I was right. He _had_ planned on embarrassing me, but in a different way, a much prideful way.

The Kids' section was painted bright colors, mainly yellow. It had benches next to tables that contained trains you could assemble and roll in the tracks. I sat on an empty, rainbow-colored chair and focused on suppressing my anger, because soon I would realize how embarrassed I was, and _that_ had a knack for turning my eyes very watery.

I sat there for a while, ignoring the kids' voices that begged their moms to buy them whatever toys were in Barnes and Noble. It must've been almost an hour when Alice came to tell me that we were going home. This time Rosalie and Emmett drove to my house.

- - - -

The next day I sulked at work. Mike was especially painful that day because according to him, Jess had not stopped gushing about Edward Cullen when he had dropped both of them at their respective houses.

"Where did you go?" Mike complained. "Did he take you anywhere? Did you guys, like, do _some_thing?" He studied my face. "Is that why he looked so depressed?"

"Mike, we stayed at the mall, we didn't do anything," I kept insisting.

"He told me he tried to be nice," he muttered.

_What's it to you, anyway? _I wanted to yell. "Er, to me, he seemed kinda like he was _forc_ing himself to be polite." It was the truth. I thought his whole attitude had been clipped and stiff, borderline uneasy. Edward Cullen was never uneasy, as far as I remembered. The real him could have never acted like so toward me.

The door swung open, allowing our first customer of the day in.

I gave Mike a look that told him I was not going to talk about this any longer. He was miffed, but did continued thinking the situation silently.

I took a deep breath, glad that I felt like everything was settling down. I wasn't sure if I'd ever do anything like that with Alice and her friends, but at the time I really hoped not. I got to appreciate how being by my lonesome self really was an easier routine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.**

-

This story has officially turned corny. ;p

**

* * *

**

* * *

_FIVE: FOR SOME REASON_

_- - - - -  
_

"Bella?"

I rubbed my eyes. My blanket was pulled away from my face.

"Uh," I groaned. I stretched my arms out.

"Bella," Charlie's voice said.

"I'm awake," I whined, turning my back to the window.

"We're going to Billy's," Charlie said. "Uh, it's been a few weeks, thought you could use a little break from just working." I felt his body sit beside me on the bed. "Billy's recently been put on a wheelchair, and this is his way of telling everybody about it. Just don't comment on it, though; I don't think he'd like it."

An hour later, Jacob Black ran greeting us after we got out of the Cruiser.

"Long time no see, Bella!" He grinned. "Billy's inside, come on." His cheeriness was infectious, and, with the knowledge that no one here went to Forks High, it was easy to crack a smile.

Jacob Black had been a childhood friend. He wasn't my best friend, mind you, mostly because we were so different as kids. Well, maybe it was because I never really liked to play outside like others did.

Anyway, for some weird reason Jacob saw me as a real friend. He knew about my mom and her effect on my social cognition.

So when Jacob asked, "How's it going," I replied with a sincere answer. I told him about my recent encounter with Mike Newton and Edward Cullen and Alice Brandon. He led us to the garage, where everyone knew we would be for the remainder of the party.

Sometimes I felt bad pouring my little frustrations out to Jacob. The kid was a few months younger than I was; he should've been with his friends, and I knew he always wanted to. But again, for some reason he preferred listening to me than ride motorbikes with Quil and Embry. I call him crazy, he shrugs me off.

After my little rant, Jacob got a little angry, which made me happy that someone felt for me. He was the kind of friend I needed. I never told him this because he might get uncomfortable, but I made a mental note to do so later.

"I don't see why you don't just move in with us at the rez," he said lightly. "People are going to be a lot nicer to you, I bet."

I sighed. "If only."

We sat on the car he was working on, a beat up Volkswagen Rabbit. Everything around me was so _car_-related—no surprise there, it was a garage. The walls were covered with mounted shelves, which were filled with hammers, bottles of car polish and cleaners, automatic saws, and several other car parts like broken tires and an extra steering wheel. Where there _wasn't_ a mechanic's tool, there were oil and grease smeared on the wall.

"It's been a while since I came here," I said, pointing to all the equipment. "Looks like you've been up to a lot. Last time I was here, the garage wasn't this...used."

He chuckled, observing the same thing. He told me about the car, about his getting his license, about anything that came to his mind. He talked about his newfound habit, playing the guitar. He would play it on the beach, he said, and old women would gather round him, listen, maybe hand him a few dollars, and sit with him until a fire pit would be needed.

Jacob scratched the back of his head. "Can't seem to attract the_ young_er ladies, though," he confessed. "Billy's only taught me the songs _he_ played when he was little."

I laughed. "I'm sure the moms would be willing to give you their daughters."

He blushed, which was unusual for him, because he was never bashful, at least when it came to his feelings. He looked around, looked at me and smiled. "D'you wanna eat? They're probably sitting around eating already, we can munch on what's left."

"OK." I stood up.

As we walked around the yard, I saw a familiar red Jeep pass by. Rosalie's blond hair peeked out from the front window, and a few seconds later she whipped her head around to check out what the cookout was all about. She looked at me—probably because I was the only pale person in a yard full of Native Americans—but only for a moment. The Jeep drove off to the direction of First Beach.

"Are those kids from your school?" guessed Jacob.

I told him yes. He didn't comment further because others were around.

So we filled our plates with Billy's barbecue and vegetable kebabs. Jacob took two burgers, but I went for the grilled corn on the cob. Billy had greeted me jovially, waving his spatula while sitting on his wheelchair. As Charlie requested, I didn't ask a thing about the wheelchair, and he looked happy enough.

I was taking a bite out of the grilled pineapple slice when Embry Call sat next to us. He had sweat running down his forehead.

"We're playing football at Seth's yard," he told Jacob, who wolfed down his burger in less than a minute. Now he listened to his friend with interest.

Quil Ateara sat across from me. He was a lot more shy than Jacob and Embry. His black hair parted in the middle and fell just about ear level. He smiled timidly when he saw me, but took in more confidence talking to Jacob. "Yeah, Jake, come on we're gonna go to the beach."

"Why?" Jacob asked, surprised. "Everyone's here."

"Be_cause_," Embry explained, "Sam talked to a bunch of high school kids from Forks." He looked at me when he said Forks, as if I'd be delighted with this piece of news.

"And they agreed to play," Quil finished. "So come on, man, we need you as receiver."

Jacob looked at my reaction. "Well, I dunno..." He faced his friends sheepishly. "I haven't talked to Bella in a while. I'll come later."

"I won't mind," I said, putting down my food. Embry and Quil both grinned and waited for Jacob.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you won't mind, Bella," he muttered, shaking his head. Then, with another hesitant glance from him and one encouraging blink from me, he nodded his head. "I'll come."

Billy was actually happy when we told him we were going to First Beach. "I heard Emmett Cullen's already gettin' college offers. Kid ain't even a senior yet." He chuckled and told us to have fun.

The walk to First Beach was fun. On our way, more people came, and pretty soon the four of us became a whole football team, complete with its aficionados. Jacob made sure I stood next to Emily, a distant cousin of his who was really nice. With her pretty, tan face and even prettier personality, she had no problem with the boys, and the boys held no qualms about her. She was currently dating Sam Uley, who was known as all-around good guy. Every younger boy, including Jacob, looked up to him.

"Sam actually wasn't supposed to be here," Emily said. "He's a lifeguard at the beach, but today he was supposed to go to the rec to teach swimming lessons."

"Oh, that's really nice," I said, hating the way I sounded so fake. I was nervous as the road turned into sand, and the sand started being covered with plastic litter and bonfires and beach blankets.

Emily sidestepped into me, snapping me away from my anxiety.

"Sorry," she apologized. "She bumped into me."

I looked at Leah Clearwater's rigid figure running ahead of us. She had her head up, and her long, black hair swayed as she swung her hands back and forth with steady determination.

I wanted to ask why, so I did.

Emily smiled. "She's a little jealous that I got Sam." We laughed a little.

"I'm sure it'll pass," I offered, and we laughed some more. Leah had always been a little proud.

"Emily!" Sam Uley walked up to us. He kissed Emily on the cheek. It was really cute because he had to bend down, and I saw his fingers twitch a little before he pecked her face.

"Sam, this is Bella; I don't think you guys have really met before," she motioned to both of us.

Sam shook my hand. "Heard a lot about you, from Jake." He cocked his head toward Jacob, who was meeting with the kids from my school. I could see familiar faces mingled with the La Push kids, and I had yet to acknowledge any of them.

"I heard a lot about you, too, Sam," I said, smiling widely. I was determined to stay on _this_ side of the two teams.

"You gonna cheer us on?" Sam teased, taking Emily's hand and giving it a squeeze. "I don't want to offend you, but I'm betting we're gonna kick some ass."

Emily giggled. "Oh, stop; she's staying here with _me_, on the _we don't care who wins_ side." Her face softened when she kissed him on the mouth. "Good luck, babe." I turned my eyes toward the two groups that were giving each other handshakes and greetings, or just the general stare down.

"I like the sound of that." Sam smirked at something Emily said. Then he left to go talk strategics with the team.

Emily's face was still pink a few seconds her boyfriend left.

"You love him," I teased.

She blushed harder. "I do."

"Oh, you do," I said, shocked. I laughed when she squeezed her eyes shut and squealed at the feeling.

"Oh, I do I do I do," she said as a matter-of-factly. "I just wish it never stops."

- - - - -

Eventually, of course, I had to say something to someone from Forks. There were probably fifty people there, most of them who would be juniors and seniors next year.

I had been getting looks from Jessica and Lauren (the usual) but I instantly smiled when I saw Angela and Ben roasting marshmallows. Eric Yorkie and Katie, a nice girl who was in my English class, stood by them as well.

"Bella! Good to see you!" Angela said. "Come have a marshmallow, although Ben here already burned half the bag."

"We still have some more, though," Ben defended. "They were on sale at the supermarket."

Emily was still with me, so I introduced her. Eric put down the twig he was holding and wiped his hand on his pants. "Hi, I'm Eric," he said, which was redundant because I had just told Emily his name.

Emily tried to keep a straight face as she made small talk. "You're marshmallow's all melted there," she said.

Eric squeaked. "Oh! Yes, yes, you want some?"

Ben offered Emily his gloppy marshmallow.

"No thank you," Emily replied sweetly.

To Angela, I asked who took her here.

She pointed at Ben. "His mom let him drive today since he just turned seventeen." She waved her arm casually over at the party. "A bunch of guys thought it would be cool to have a giant cookout, so we just went along. You know how they are."

Yes, I can pretty much guess. Either the Cullens or the Hales (or maybe even Alice Brandon) planned for First Beach, and then some girls, maybe the Denalis sisters, would follow. Then the boys decided to come, and then Mike begged his friends to go, and eventually they're all here.

"ALRIGHT LET'S PLAY SOME FOOTBALL!" Emmett Cullen's voice boomed and all eyes were on him. I finally saw them. Mike Newton looked like he wanted to yell something too, but then Tanya Denalis said something that shut his mouth.

The game started, and for the first five minutes everyone watched. Everyone from Forks High (except me) was on one side, and everyone from La Push (again, except me) was on the other side. The teams, I heard Jessica say, were made up of "the hottest boys with the hottest beach bodies. Whoo! Go Edward!"

After a few minutes, no one really cared about the game, mostly because most of the audience were girls and they could always look at the boys without paying attention to the game. There were people playing volleyball, people eating sandwiches, and some were just dancing to the radio.

Emily tried to teach me how to properly throw a Frisbee, but I kept flinging it in random directions that she gave up on me and we walked around.

We passed by Alice and Rosalie.

"Hi, Bella!" Alice said, giving me a hug. "And you're Emily, right?"

"Yeah," she said, surprised to have been known before being introduced.

"Sam pointed you out earlier to all of us," Alice said, earning a blush from Emily. "Aw, you guys are so cute together!"

Rosalie gave me a short hi, but it was curious. She acted very friendly toward me. "How'd you know all these kids from La Push?"

"Charlie's has a lot of friends here," I said. I noticed both she and Alice glanced at the football game at the same time.

"Do you want to come with us?" Alice offered. "We have food and drinks."

"I'm full," I said just as Emily piped in an exuberant "Sure!"

I gave her a _What?_ look, and she shrugged. "It doesn't sound _that_ bad."

She had a point, but that's because she didn't know people like Edward Cullen, who just now raised an eyebrow at me as we walked along the field.

Emily nudged me on the rib. "He likes you?" I wasn't sure if she was asking or not. Good thing Alice and Rose were a little ahead of us, or else they'd hear.

"No, definitely not," I told her flatly. "Listen, Emily, in Forks, no one really likes me much."

She knew a little about it, because she knew about my mother, but she probably had only an idea what life in Forks was for me.

She looked appalled. "Are you sure he's one of them? 'Coz that guy who gave you the evil eye didn't look like he hated you."

"Were you being sarcastic?"

"I honestly don't know." She studied Edward a little more. He was running around, just like the rest of them were. Forks was the shirts team, but you could see his chest muscles and a little bit of his six-pack when his loose white shirt flailed around. I bet he wore that shirt on purpose.

"But if there's one thing I'd like to find out," Emily said, handing me a bottled water, "I make it a point to do so."

"Edward's not like that."

"Uh-huh."

"You know, I was beginning to like you back there; now you're, like," I put on a stern face, "_all up on my biz_."

We burst into laughter. Emily shook her head. "Seriously, though, he's still staring at you."

"Uh-huh," I mimicked her from earlier. I refused to look behind me and believe she was not lying. I twisted the cap open.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp followed by someone yelling, "Ooh! That's gotta hurt."

I turned away from Emily's livid face and turned to where the injury took place.

"Jacob!" I automatically gasped. We ran toward the field, and I heard whispers of concern and shock. Jess and Lauren muttered to each other: "Hot guy with the ponytail got knocked over by Edward! Look, they're on the ground right now! Oh my God is he OK?"

Jacob was lying down on the sand, clutching his stomach. His eyes were shut tight. Beside him, Edward stood up, apparently fine. Understandably, he looked uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" Edward stammered, walking to check to see if there were visible bruises or cuts (there weren't).

"Ow," Jacob moaned. I went by his side, Emily standing next to Sam nearby.

"Bella," Jacob said when he saw me. "Bells, I'm fine, don't look so wor—" His coughs stopped his speech.

I put my hands under his hair and cradled his head but didn't lift it.

Jacob's ink black eyes stared up at me.

"I think you're done for today," I half-whispered. I could feel curious eyes boring on my back. It created a prickling feeling all the way up my neck.

The other players gathered round and helped him up, while I stood and waited until I could follow them off.

Edward walked up to me, a strange look on his face. He looked confused. "I hit him pretty hard," he confessed. "I don't_ think _I did any damage..."

"Um, I'm sure he'll be fine," I said quietly. I blushed. Why did I feel so protective and defenseless at the same time?

"Is he your friend?" he asked. Of course he already knew the answer to that question, but I answered still.

"Yes, he is my friend."

He picked up the football that was left on the ground. He put his fingers around it and pushed it together real hard. I watched him struggle, watched his hands try to take the frustration away.

"Are you trying to apologize?" I wild-guessed.

Jasper shouted something at Edward, and he passed the ball to him. Edward faced me. I heard him clench his teeth together. His Adam's apple made one swallowing motion.

He shook his head. "No." He stared hard at Jacob, who was now sitting sullenly at the sidelines—he was drinking Hi-C and staring at his feet.

"Whoa, hey." I caught his attention again. "What was _that_ about!" I meant the look he gave Jacob.

"_No_thing, Swan, just thinking." Then I really had to get out of the way because the game continued.

- - - - -

"Maybe Edward wanted to kill him for being a better receiver," Emily theorized.

Tyler had sat next to Jacob shortly after the game resumed. He had hoped to cheer his spirits, but only managed to make Jacob more cranky. So when I intervened, followed by Emily, Tyler directed the conversation at _me_, which was stupid of him because Jake and Emily were on _my_ side.

"Get lost, asshole," Jacob said. "I'm in pain, and I only ask the ladies for help." Tyler traipsed over to where Jess and Lauren were.

"How did it happen?" I asked, looking at the way he hunched his shoulders forward so as not to stretch his stomach.

"He just ran into me, he was going really fast," Jacob said, annoyed at the memory. "Just slammed right to me. I almost had it, though!"

"Well at least you're not really hurt." I was sitting next to him on the sand. I kept twirling my hair around because I had nothing else to do.

"Yeah, it happens all the time," he said nonchalantly.

Emily guffawed. "Yeah okay, Jake! Whatever!"

He gave her a sharp glance, and then got to his feet. To our surprise, he really _was_ all right. Jacob gave us an imperious raise of the eyebrow before offering me his arm.

"Come on, Bells. Let's take a walk."

Leah briefly took me aside and whispered quickly, "Do me a favor and ask him to teach you Frisbee, 'kay?" Then she added, "And _make it look good_."

I gave her a weird look. I turned to Jacob and we walked toward the water. Because it was summer, people were wearing bikinis and tiny shorts. There were students waddling in the water, holding cameras, drinks, or beach balls.

"D'you want to throw a football?" Jacob asked. He pointed to a bunch of footballs lying on the ground.

"Sure, but I think it'd be safer if I used the foam ones," I said, picking up a colorful football the size of my hand.

"Nah," Jacob insisted. He picked up one of the Wilson ones. "You could handle this. It's easy."

He showed me the proper way to throw it, where you place the fingers and when to release. I was doing pretty good actually. I got it to spiral at least three times before my arm started to hurt.

"Think I need more exercise," I murmured, handing him the ball. He tossed it expertly in the air and it landed on the pile where it came from.

He put his arm around me, which was very comfortable yet the gesture made me uneasy. He did it so casually, and I supposed he had a right to; he was my closest friend.

"The game's about to finish," Jacob said. "Wanna keep walking?"

I looked at the crowds, and the less occupied part of the beach, which was a distance off. "Yeah."

People, even those from my school, came up to Jacob to compliment him on the game or comment on his fall. He politely responded, and I played along, even so far as sharing a small joke with James Avery, a senior next year.

Even when the game ended people still ran up to Jacob and say something. At one point, he tried to include me in the conversation. Unfortunately that was when Edward passed by.

"When Bella told me how good you guys play, I just tried my best," Jacob said, nudging my shoulder lightly.

Besides that total lie aforementioned, I actually think the Forks football team is _not_ all that., save for a couple of star players. How many times have they gone state? Two...in the past twelve years.

Emmett and Jasper both grinned at me. "Thanks, Bella, I didn't think you'd say such a thing," Emmett said. "You're never at football games."

"Maybe _that's_ why you'd say we were good," Jasper muttered to himself, chuckling.

Edward stood next to his friends, looking tired and sweaty from the game. "Hey, man, sorry about that earlier. You okay?" He asked Jacob.

Jacob removed his arm from my shoulder, which I was glad for since I started shifting my weight around to get away. Then he and Edward did a clap/handshake that's supposed to mean all is forgiven. Then they both laughed.

"That was pretty good, though, have to admit," Jacob said. "How fast do you run?"

Edward smirked, but in a friendly way. "Fast enough."

So they were going to be friends now?—I had a hard time swallowing that in. "I'm gonna go talk to Angela," I said, excusing myself. Edward and Jacob looked up from their conversation, each wearing different expressions. While Jacob had looked surprised, Edward appeared...happy. It reminded me of the Grinch.

"You sure you don't want us to come along?" he—Edward—drawled.

I backed away quickly. "It's fine." I smiled at Jacob, and his cheeriness faltered when he realized he'd practically befriended the enemy. Not that Edward was my enemy, or anything; but I was definitely not on his side. Without another word, I walked to Angela's direction.

But Angela and Ben seemed wrapped up to each other, instead I headed back to Billy's house.

"Bella!" a male voice called. I turned my head and saw Jasper Hale waving his hand, beckoning me to stop.

"Yeah?"

He blew on his curly blond hair. "This may come off as random, or weird, or whatever," he said smoothly, "but can I just ask something?"

"OK..." Unsure.

"Do you _like_ Edward Cullen?" His icy blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly. His white teeth stayed in a friendly smile.

My mouth dropped open in surprise. "Huh? No! No, why?" My voice stuttered and I had to swallow hard. "Why do you say that?" Did people _honestly_ think I had a thing for Edward? I looked around, but no one else seemed to be looking at us.

Jasper grinned. "Do you think you'll ever _be_ friends," he paused, "with him?" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, showing Edward was standing several meters away, observing us with suspicious eyes.

I chuckled darkly. "I'm thinking no." And I started to walk past him.

"Well, do you think maybe I can say sorry for ever _be_ing like him to you?" Jasper said a little loudly.

When I looked at him, I saw he meant it. "Maybe," I said. Edward was still looking at us, Jacob nowhere near his side.

After Jasper, I practically jogged to Billy's house, trying to ignore the pointed stares and whispers going my way.

* * *

_SIX: ALL THE LITTLE DETAILS  
_

_- - - - - -  
_

Junior year arrived when I turned seventeen. The summer passed by in a breeze, the leaves fluttered away and were replaced by cold winds and lower temperature.

Things had changed.

First, Charlie bought me a red truck. Very nondescript, not even worth mentioning much, but from then on I never took the school bus.

The second thing that changed was Jacob—rather, my relationship with Jacob. Since that beach party, he'd been more outgoing. He joined his school's football team, he even ran for student body president (and lost).

More relevant to me, Jacob presented me with flowers on my birthday, and said he wanted me to be his girlfriend.

"I've liked you for a long time actually, Bella," he confessed, grinning. "Please go out with me? As my girlfriend?" This was where he pushed a bouquet of strongly scented roses in front of me, along with a box of Ferrero Rocher.

I held the gifts unsteadily in my arms. "Jacob, you think that's a good idea? I'm not too sure about these kindsa things." Was I supposed to feel as frozen as I did then? Did one have a brain freeze-like phenomenon when being confronted by a potential date?

I agreed to go out with him. _"Just once_," I stressed. "And if it feels weird, like, I don't feel like we're gonna work out, we're gonna stop."

So, night after night I expected Jacob would have plans but no, he would save the date until _he_ got his car fixed, which just so happened to be on my first day of school.

He drove me to school that day, paraded me around in his Volkswagen Rabbit.

Jessica Stanley's awed face greeted me outside the car door. "Bella! You're going out with _him_?" She followed with her gaze the ratty car as it drove away.

"Um, not really." Not _yet_ anyway.

She assumed my answer meant yes. As if I were her friend, she took my arm and walked toward the doors. "How'd _that_ happen? Tell me all!"

"Jess," I said, walking against where she was going, "nothing happened, really."

She pouted. "Oh, come on. You don't expect me to believe that." She smiled at a group of people we passed by. "Hey everyone, she's going out with Jacob Black," she nodded at me. "You know, that guy from La Push?"

The group of people looked at me, most of them surprised.

Lauren stepped in. "Bella? You're kidding!" She laughed her maniacal laugh and smiled at me. "How is he?"

This time I jerked my arm free. "I wouldn't know," I said. I looked at the schedule in my hands. "I'm going to homeroom, so... bye."

Mike Newton stumbled in at this time, coincidentally. He heard what Jessica and Lauren were saying, and his eyes widened. He looked at me, _my_ eyes widened, and he smiled.

Evil.

"You guys talking about Bella's boyfriend?" Mike remarked casually. "'Coz _I _got some news for _you_—he ain't who you think he is."

Lauren snorted. "Ugh. Sorry, Mike, we already know it's that hot guy Jacob from the beach." She smirked. "It's really...sweet of him to pick you, Bella."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to class." And, with a steady foot, I headed for Room 201.

Room 201. Down this hallway. Door to the right. Just a couple more doors...

Mike laughed loudly. "Jacob? Hah. I'm talkin'—" I tuned him out, which was pretty easy in the busy hallway.

I entered the classroom.

"Cullen, Edward," a shaky voice called out from the desk. Her glasses were on the tip of her nose. She looked around, and smiled when she saw the boy take the first seat on the second row.

It seemed the teacher was assigning seats. She was Mrs. Lafferty, and she was in her late fifties. Mrs. Lafferty liked to wear flowery dresses and perfume, which made the whole room smell like flowers or potpourri.

"Denalis... eh, _Ei_-rina?"

Irina Denalis entered the classroom. "Irina." She quickly took the seat behind Edward. Then she whispered to him, "Freaking bell didn't even ring yet!"

He smirked and nodded.

People were still walking in, so I walked toward the corner of the room, thinking I would be called much later because she was going alphabetically. I saw Eric Yorkie standing by the windows, arranging his books on the sill.

I waved and smiled. He nodded.

Just then Lauren and Jessica ran in, looking very much excited.

"Oh my god oh my god," Lauren exclaimed quickly. She saw me, then pointed. "You and Edward are going _out_?"

Everyone gasped, and Eric dropped a textbook. All eyes snapped to me, even Edward's.

_Mike_. I took an incredulous look. "No!" I shook my head at Eric, who looked about ready to cry at the sight of me.

Jess saw that Edward was in this class. "Edward, Mike told us you and Bella had a thing this summer."

Mrs. Lafferty cleared her throat. "Excuse me? Ladies, please be quiet while I call out names. If you're in this class, wait at the back of the room, if not, go to your respective homerooms."

The bell rang then. Jess scowled, but Lauren smiled and marched to the back of the room.

She stood next to me and Eric.

"It's true isn't it?" she said triumphantly.

"No. It's not."

_Ev_eryone had his or her ears listening in.

"Mike _saw _you two everyday."

"I _work_ there, Lauren," talking to her like she was an immature kid.

She was still smug. "I dunno, Bella, it's gonna be hard to convince people otherwise." Then Lauren's face turned jealous. It was easy to see, and it was a shame, too, because she had nothing to be jealous of me.

"He bought you ice cream."

"Only a couple of times! And that's a ridiculous basis for believing he's my—"

"But _oth_er things, too," she sneered.

I looked at Eric. Even _he_ looked worried at Lauren's rising anger. He looked at where Edward was sitting, and he lowered his gaze down immediately.

"Leave her alone, Lauren," Edward spoke, sounding really annoyed.

She blushed. "So it's true, then?"

Mrs. Lafferty was forced to sit down and wait this conversation out. Well, the bell was scheduled to ring in five minutes.

Edward tilted his head to the side, to face us. "It's not really _your_ business what Bella and I do, y'know?"

Small gasps escaped.

"_Or_ what we _don't_ do!" I said hotly. "Because we're not _do_ing anything."

By then almost nobody believed me. And the people who didn't believe me would be partly right, because Edward and I have become acquaintances...sort of...during the summer.

"Well," Edward said, "I wouldn't say we weren't _not_ doing anything, but that's just what _I _say." He looked at me, for the first time today, and smirked. He was amused, but that would change later. I made a mental note to make him regret that crooked smile.

Irina had her mouth open the whole time. She was gaping at Edward. "Are you kidding me? Is that where you were all summer?" She sat back on her seat, arms crossed. "Did I _miss_ something?"

Oh. My. Gosh. Why did I think it was a good idea to accept Edward's apology?

Lauren was still lost. "Wait...so you guys _are_ going out?" She looked at Edward. "This wasn't, like, a mean joke to embarrass her or anything?" No one answered, and she got more confused. "Whoa, wait a minute!"

"Enough!" shrieked Mrs. Lafferty. "Now can you children _please_ let me assign the seats, then we can _stop_ talking about what you've just been talking about, and get on through the day!" She exhaled sharply, then continued, "Patel, Tom? Pa_tel_, Tom."

- - - - - -

Angela sat next to me in lunch. "When you told me your summer was interesting," she began, sounding uncomfortable, "I didn't think you meant like _this_ interesting. I mean, a lot has changed since the beach." She motioned to all the stares and whispers surrounding our lonely table occupied by three—Angela, Ben, and me.

I thought it was sweet when Ben and Angela walked in the cafeteria holding hands.

Ben munched on his sandwich. "You've got some explaining to do," he teased.

Angela asked me carefully. "What _did_ happen?"

Finally, people who would listen—like, _real_ly listen. "Well, I was at work in the middle of the summer, and, Edward was just _there_. Waiting for me. With two ice cream cones and an hour-long apology."

Ben's eyebrows were raised. "Was it a legit apology?"

Angela gave him a scolding look. "Of course it was!" She looked at me. "Or else all _this_ wouldn't have happened...right, Bella?"

"Right," I told her, sounding unsure then.

Ben asked, "What did he say?"

"Sorry for being a jerk the other night," I quoted sourly. "Then... I don't know, he just apologized for everything. Then he gave me ice cream, and that's how it happened really. Some days he stopped by with some food to give to me. I probably gained a lot of pounds this summer."

I realized I left out little details, because both looked confused when I stopped talking.

"What did he mean, 'the other night'?"

"Oh, we went to the movies," I clarified, "but not just us. We were with other people from school." I told them about that night, even to the part where it ended on such awkward terms between Edward and me.

"So he got to you through food?" Ben theorized. Angela huffed, but she smiled too.

I laughed. "Hey, he wouldn't take no for an answer, and he was real nice about it." I took a bite from my pizza. "Sometimes we talked."

"_There_ you are," a voice said from behind.

Angela and Ben gasped before looking at anywhere but me. I looked at the person, and was surprised to see Edward looking back at me, a serene look on his face.

"Oh," I said out loud.

He chuckled at my surprise. "Can we talk?"

I didn't dare look anywhere else as I said, "Sure."

He sat to my right, which was right across Ben. He gave my friends a small smile, and then he sighed. He faced me.

"Can we talk outside?"

I stood up, and he quickly followed as I walked toward the cafeteria doors. "If you insist," I muttered sourly, which caused him to give a quiet laugh.

We stood just out the hallway, because really where else were we supposed to go? Teachers didn't let us out during class time. We both leaned against the wall, almost two feet of wall space separating us.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, "How's your first day going?"

"Alright."

He laughed. "Look, I know we're not the _best_ of_ friends_, and all that, but you can tell me about your day."

I looked at him with angry eyes. "Why are you so amused by this? They're talking about us."

"Why are you so bothered by it? Mike wasn't exactly _ly_ing when he said I came to the store with the _goods_." He moved his eyebrows up and down at the last words.

"They're blowing it out of proportion."

"Who cares?"

"Apparently, I do." I sighed. "It might not affect you, 'coz you can't care less what people think, but this... it's really an_noy_ing. And you're en_joy_ing it."

"Of all the people who could handle rumors, I think you'd be the best at it," he said. "You've been through much worse talk...before." He pulled at his hair as he said this, looking at me with his pitying eyes.

That clicked it for me, his pitying eyes—his pitying, taunting green eyes. I stood up straight, and faced him with a stoic expression. "Edward, I'm glad we've gotten to be civil over the summer, but that doesn't necessarily mean I _like_ you or I'd want to be friends all of a sudden."

He looked surprised, maybe a bit taken aback, but it seemed to seep into his mind, too, how absurd we were.

"So, after all the time we spent in the summer, we're just gonna stop trying to be friends," he said lazily.

"It never felt like friendship," I murmured.

He rolled his eyes. "_Sor_ry I don't do shopping trips or eat out with you," he drawled. "_I_ thought we had it pretty good at Newton's."

"That's your idea of friends?" I commented, half-smiling. "Visiting me at work?"

"Spending time with you, for one," he said seriously. "And, telling you about me—which, by the way, _you_ suck at doing."

I relaxed back into the wall, this time standing a foot closer to him. "Doing what?"

"You don't talk about yourself." I was going to argue, but he continued, "This morning, I see Jacob Black giving you a ride. _When_ did you ever talk about Jacob Black in our conversations?"

"Sometimes!" Lie. "OK, never. But I never asked you to tell me your life story!"

He shrugged. "So he your boyfriend or what?"

"You know you're still going to be the person who made fun of me all throughout my childhood. What makes you think I'll tell?"

Edward pretended to be offended. "Your tone of voice cuts like ice, but not enough to get you out of the subject." He repeated, "So? Jacob's gotten his Christmas wish?"

I gave him an irked look. "Maybe," I said, giving in. "But don't tell anyone."

"You have a thing for secrets," he observed.

"They never last long, my secrets."

He smiled apologetically, and I knew he felt sorry for me. He never once intentionally hurt my feelings since that day at the store. So _far_.

"I guess I can't expect you to _ful_ly trust me," he concluded, starting to walk back toward the lunch room. His dark green eyes looking sad, he stopped a couple of steps forward. He tilted his head so I could see one side of his handsome face. That side of his face looked sad, too. Was the other side turned up into expressive mischief? Maybe he was really smirking?

Or not. "I'm gonna go back and eat lunch." He walked slowly away, loudly musing. "Maybe this time I'll get it right. We don't _want_ to be friends."

I stood there, listened to his repeating it over and over until his voice drowned into the loud chatter of students.

* * *

_SEVEN: UNDER CONTROL  
_

THE NEXT FEW DAYS, WORK WAS DULL. Edward didn't visit at all, and it affected me so greatly even Mike noticed. It was worse too because Edward sat next to me in Biology, out of pure coincidence and all. Seriously, only Mr. Banner's logic would arrange students alphabetically and end up with a C sitting next to an S.

Anyway, back to work, Mike had been really annoying with his questions.

"What's eating you, Bella? You miss your boy Edward?" He wasn't truly nasty about it either; he saw I was upset. Ever since Edward started to give him the cold shoulder, Mike's been feeling more and more lost.

"We werent't _real_ly supposed to be _friends _friends," I said quietly, my eyes glued to the untouched box of ankle socks.

Mike perched himself on the counter beside where I was standing. "D'you... like him?" he asked with a slight shake to his voice.

"What!" I stared at him, surprised and a bit disturbed by his reaction. "Um, no?" I quickly put myself to work to avoid more talk.

All was quiet, and I held my shoulders close in anticipation, because I knew Mike was still thinking this through, and he knew, like I did, that Edward had had a hold of me.

He said it glumly. "He's different now. He's changed."

I jerked my head to face him. "Why is that a bad thing?"

Mike fumbled with the laces of his sneakers. "Be_cause_... Ever since he's been friends with you..." He shook his head. "I can't explain it, but it's like... it's like..."

My eyebrows slowly descended together. "It's like..."

His blue eyes stared at me accusingly. "OK. He _likes_ you. Like, he looks at you differently than he does other girls."

"Out of all the conversations we can have, Mike, _this _one is probably the only one I wouldn't have with you," I confessed angrily.

He blushed red. "And he hasn't been the _fun_ Eddie ever since!" he shouted. "The other day he totally blew me and Tyler off!"

"I don't have anything to do with that," I said. "You can see for yourself; Edward's not here."

"But you _wish _he were," he accused.

"Rather him than you," I said before I could bite my tongue.

He crossed his arms and huffed, before jumping down the counter and stepping out.

_Asshole_, I called out in my head.

That night, I considered quitting work, because of school and _other things_. But in the end I decided it was either this or after school clubs.

So the next day, I did my best to ignore Mike's angry looks. It also occurred to me that Edward stayed in the back of my thoughts. I guess yesterday's rant did more than just take some anger out.

At lunch, Angela and Ben sort of talked me through my thoughts. They shot question after question; it was quite an exercise. Ben's questions were as straightforward as Angela's were more rhetorical.

"Does he drug you?" _No. Unless you put in consideration my addiction for strawberry ice cream._

"Do you think you trust him?"_ Um... I shouldn't, not yet, but I do. I think._

"Did he make you pay for all the things he gave you?" _He got offended when I tried to pay_.

"Do you forgive him? Like, truly forgive him?" _Well, i__t's very hard to truly forgive, unless I forget about it first._

"Does he hit you, or anythi—"

"Ben!" Angela chided. "Edward _may _have shown his capability of that, but he's not that kinda bully." She turned her head to me. "Which brings me to my next question: _Has _he ever hurt you? As a friend, I mean."

I covered my head with my hands. "He does now."

"Oh," they both said, and remained quiet. I sat there, eating my lunch and occasionally glancing at Edward's table. He seemed to be doing fine without me.

And then my eyebrows curled downward as my thoughts brought forth what I really felt.

I was angry because I wanted to be his friend. Moreover, I was _frustrated_ because I couldn't bring myself to be friends with him.

"Bella you okay?" I saw Ben waving his hand in front of my face. He smiled nervously. "Thought we lost you back there. The bell's about to ring, so we're gonna throw out our trash, 'kay?"

"Ben, can you throw ours out please?" Angela said sweetly, passing our trays to a surprised Ben. He left wordlessly, and Angela turned to me with a worried look.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's not that big of a deal, really," I said. "We'd just be ignoring each other the whole time."

"I can ask Mr. Banner if I can switch desks," she suggested unsurely.

"No, no, I don't want Ben to have to deal with _him_." I laughed to prove I was fine, which was obviously untrue. But Angela nodded.

"Just tell me if you can't take it, 'right?" she offered at last. "I'm here to talk, and not just about Edward." She continued to tell me what she knew on the way to class. "You might not know it, but ever since school started, Edward's been a bit... _di__s_tant... toward his friends, and they're pretty mad about it." She made a glance at Mike, who was passing by. As soon as he saw me, he glared.

"I think I liked last year better," I decided with a laugh, to which Angela joined whole-heartedly. "This is just ridiculous."

When we entered the classroom, Angela grinned. She had a twinkle in her eye. "I think you're going to be fine, Bella. At least in here."

"What do you mean?" I looked toward her gaze, and saw Edward sitting on his chair, looking slightly angry. I didn't get Angela's meaning, but Mr Banner called us to our seats.

The lab table was covered with different textbooks and workbooks, and today we were supposed to complete worksheets, and use those books to answer those papers.

"Today I want _silence_ from all of you," Mr Banner instructed. "I'll be grading these as soon as you hand them in. So hand them in."

The students groaned, complained, but ten minutes later we mutely did our work.

Because we had to share our resources in the table, Edward and I had a few awkward moments during that class. We would reach for the same textbooks, our hands would almost touch, we'd look at each other the same time; I played the part of the blushing schoolgirl well.

I was sitting, drilling myself mentally that I shouldn't be so sheepish about the whole thing, when Edward slid a piece of paper on my notebook. I almost jumped at the intrusion, but he returned to answering his questions when I looked at him.

I faced the note: _Sorry about Mike_.

Huh? I gave him a confused look, then wrote my reply. _What about Mike_?

A few seconds later—_I know how he's been toward you at work. It's sort of my fault really. I kinda pissed him off, now he's mad. _

Really? I raised an eyebrow, and Edward made a small tip of the head to confirm.

I quietly tore out another corner of a piece of lined paper and wrote: _It couldn't have been all your doing, that's for sure. But whatever your part in it was, it's fine._

Watching his reaction intently, he surprised me when his eyes narrowed suddenly, and he looked at Mike. He shook his head and wrote something down, but he crumpled it up and instead gave me a meaningful look—of which I had a hard time figuring out.

- - - - - - -

On the walk to my truck, I wondered what Edward wrote down on that paper. A few seconds before I reached my car, Mike walked passed and gave me a cold look. I returned his gaze, looking around to see if anyone noticed. Edward, who was standing by his car several meters away, saw the whole exchange.

He tipped his head toward Newton, but other than that he proceeded to go home. I did the same, though I would be heading out a few minutes later for work.

Work. Ugh.

I went home, did my homework real fast, then headed out. I prepared to put on my serious face the whole time and just ignore Mike.

To my utmost surprise, Mike acted so _nice_ to me. Immediately after I put on my orange vest for the uniform, he asked me how my day was. Then he questioned me again, and again, about trivial things really, but then he paused.

His next question came so unexpectedly it caused me to stumble over the stack of Carmex lip balm.

"Will you go with me to the Halloween Festival?"

"What?" I said dumbly.

His face was red, but he repeated his question loudly.

"I don't even know why you'd be asking _me_ that," I admitted.

"We've been working together months now," Mike explained, "and I f-figured we'd go out sometime. As... you know..." He looked down. "Because I like you... and stuff."

I was momentarily stunned. Never having this kind of experience before, I started to say, "I'm sorry, Mike, but... I don't know." I smiled shakily. "You never seemed to like me." That was an understatement if I ever saw one.

He blushed harder, the red creeping down his neck now. "I know it may _seem_ that way, but I always look at you, and I know I'm not the only one, but—"

"You're not the only one?" I repeated, a bit disturbed by this amazing news.

"Hehe," he continued. Poor Mike. He looked so nervous. His right foot was shaking, and his hand kept scratching his ear.

I tried to help out a bit. "Mike, relax; I won't kill you or anything."

He smiled. "Won't you please hang out with me sometime?" he stuttered weakly.

Something in me just absolutely commanded that I say yes. I don't know; his innocent blue eyes and charming grin just screamed hope. Childish, adoring, useless hope probably, but I didn't have the heart to refuse him then. Besides, Mike is harmless.

But then my mind reminded me of Jacob. My eyes brightened at the excuse. "Sorry, Mike, but I'm sorta dating someone."

"What!" he exclaimed, completely taken aback. "So Edward _did_ ask you?" He groaned angrily to himself. "He _told_ me he didn't."

"Huh?" I said. "I meant someone else."

"Who?"

"Jacob Black. Remember?"

His mouth formed an "o". "Oh. Right. Forgot about that."

Yeah. I couldn't believe I forgot about Jacob either. Close call, though. I almost hung out with Mike Newton.

"Can we just hang out as friends?" he tried.

I sighed. "I... I dunno, Mike, probably not."

"Why not?"

I was annoyed. "I don't feel like it."

"Well, when you feel like it, give me a call, okay?"

I huffed. "Maybe."

- - - - - - -

The days that followed, I reckoned my feelings could not be ignored.

First, I gave Jacob a call. That conversation made me realize something else, which I'll talk about later.

Jacob told me he planned for dinner and a movie sometime this weekend, but he had work after school and recently he'd been very busy.

I swallowed loud as I voiced the sentence I'd been practicing that morning. "Jake, I don't think I'm ready for a relationship with you." My heart hammered but I couldn't take back the words. "I'm sorry, Jake, I really am, but it's just not me."

He didn't answer.

"At least not right now," I added pathetically, without thinking.

Bless him, Jacob, he was good-hearted about it. "Don't worry, Bells, I understand. We can still do that dinner and movie... as friends, if you like." He faltered a bit, but I immediately grabbed the chance to make him feel better.

"Okay. Dinner and movie it is."

After that, I felt like my life would calm down again, so I said my goodbye and took the rest of the day off.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**

* * *

**

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.**

**-  
**

Corny!

-

I watched _Harry Potter_ recently :D  
I really did like it. So so much. What about you?

-

* * *

_EIGHT: SO I DO_

- - - - - - - -

November rolled around soon enough. I was feeling luckier by the minute. People ignored me now. That was my biggest accomplishment that year, I would say. School work was tough, what with the beginning of looking for colleges and stuff, but overall school wasn't as demanding as I thought. Work at Newton's Outfitters became bearable—sometimes enjoyable, I'm shy to admit—because Mike did not hold a grudge to me anymore.

Everything was going great, greater than I could have hoped for. Just last year, I was girl with the manipulative mother, girl who was doomed to schmooze her way to money. But now, I was just another insignificant girl.

All because of Edward Cullen, you could say. Everytime I saw him, there was this weird gratitude I felt. It was irrational, because it wasn't like he sacrificed a whole lot for my sake. If anything, I deserved to be treated just like any other insignificant girl in Forks was treated. I had gotten what I was supposed to have all along.

So why did I constantly think about Edward's goodness? Why, during my spare time, in between walks to class, _why_ did I always feel this urge to thank him, or give _some_thing to him? Like I owed him something?

More alarming, why couldn't I bring myself to just _thank _him and get it over with? I saw him everyday in English and Bio. Yet, even with my lighthearted feelings, around him I regressed back to feeling much more shy than I should. I treated him like a stranger, he did the same to me. It was like summer never happened. Like the years before never happened.

Sometimes I wondered if that affected him, but then reminded myself that I was now just like every insignificant girl.

I thought all this while I did my English essay, which answered several questions on _Wuthering Heights_. We were going to have a multi-chapter test tomorrow, so I decided to re-read some of the pages to prepare.

Then the telephone rang. Charlie was working late, and even if he wasn't I still answered in case it was a telemarketer.

"Hello?" I answered after five or six rings.

"Bella!" said a cheery voice. "This is Tyler."

"Tyler Crowley?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah!" he said, glad I remembered. "Guess what? I'm tipsy."

I thought about hanging up. I really did. "So you called me? Was it a dare or something."

"Nope, no it wasn't I just wanted to tell you something." He breathed heavily, and I heard music playing in the background. "I just wanna say it, 'coz this bozo's pissin' me off and I..."

"What?"

"Hmm," he said slowly, "Getting headache."

I waited a few more seconds. "You know what? You don't have to tell me, 'kay? I'm hanging up now."

"Wait! No, no!" he whined. "Edward'll tell you," he mumbled. "Edward! EDWARD! Ed_wa_-ard! Yo—"

"Bella?" The drunken slur had been replaced by a smooth, deeper voice.

"Oh, hi Edward."

"Um, hi, uh..." After a suspenseful pause, "S-sorry about that."

"It's alright, I wasn't doing anything important."

I wanted to hang up. I told myself to hang up. Instead I listened to Edward's slow and heavy breathing.

"Bella?" Edward asked softly.

"Yeah," I whispered just as quietly.

"I—"

"What?"

He sighed. "Just...nothing."

I put the receiver down on its cradle, ignoring the pounding beneath my chest and the shallow breaths that entered and escaped.

- - - - - - - -

I woke up with barely enough time for breakfast. I shoved my English essay into my folder before grabbing a granola bar and my keys. As seven o'clock ticked by, I did away with my raincoat and jumped my feet into my sneakers.

I slammed the door before I turned around.

And Edward's Volvo was parked behind my red truck.

I blinked, aware of the accumulating raindrops in my hair and shoulders. Was this some kind of joke?

The engine revved to a start, allowing me to see that Edward was inside, waiting.

Though his windshield wipers were on, I clearly saw him wave his hand to motion me inside.

I held my keys tighter in my fist, unsure of what to do. No doubt he saw my hesitance, and he opened his door slightly to peek his head out and shouted, "Come on, Bella, please?"

I scoffed, gave him a funny look, then walked.

I exchanged a typical morning with my rumbling truck for a drive in Edward's quiet and smooth Volvo.

We didn't say much, I mean, the whole thing had been surreal. We said good morning, and for a good minute nobody spoke. The radio wasn't even on.

And then when he made the turn to Forks High, he asked, "Bella, what—how do you think of me?" He was stopped at the turn, a line of cars waiting to turn to the parking lot. Edward looked at me, and I looked away to the window, blushing for having looked at him all this time.

"I...dunno, I think you're okay, why?" I mumbled. I wanted to say more than that.

He seemed to think about my answer, and nodded. "Thanks."

I smiled uneasily. "Why, were you expecting me to say an insult?"

He smirked at me. "Something like that."

My mind told me to be brave. He found a parking spot far out and slowly drove over to it.

Be brave, Bella, come on don't shy out now...

I shut my eyes tightly and blurted, "Edward, _thank_ you. For everything." I felt the car halt to a stop and I opened my left eye to look at him.

He was looking back, of course, but his expression was priceless. He looked horrified, amazed, and puzzled with the same face. He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, "Why?"

"Why?" I repeated. And stayed silent. I was too scared, too embarrassed to admit that one guy changed my whole year, changed everyone's perspective of me.

We were now parked. He shook his head. "Wrong question," he mumbled quickly, and I heartily agreed in my mind. He hesitated, then looked up at me. His face was inches from my own, how we got this close I don't know. But next, he breathed, very slowly, "If I tell you something, will you believe me?"

"Yeah?" I answered questioningly.

He chuckled, then looked down, studying what I was wearing. An old, black sweater over an equally old t-shirt, and faded, grey jeans. I waited for his comment while he thought about it.

"You look nice," he said.

Embarrassingly, I snorted because that was probably the only thing he could say without being brutally honest. He raised an eyebrow, and then laughed.

"All right, then," he quipped, "you look _real_ly beautiful today. Better?"

My blush was heating my whole face, damn I was really uneasy. I settled for a quiet thank you, and he smiled at me, a breathtaking smile that lasted for a second, and he reached back for his bag.

"D'you wanna walk together?" Edward asked, waiting for me to get out of his car.

"I have to go to my locker." Some people were staring as we walked down the hallways for my locker. Thank goodness they all kept their comments to themselves. Edward helped me with my books, and on the way to English I caught him turning his face to look at me a couple of times, though I was doing the same thing. I was thinking that maybe I was imagining the whole walk, and that Edward was just a weird hologram following me around.

But follow me around he did, in retrospect. I don't know how he managed to not be late for his classes, when he walked me to every single class of mine, assisted with trips to my locker, and even carried my backpack for me.

When it was time for lunch, Edward and I sat at a table. Amidst the loud noises from the students, I didn't think we'd be noticed much. But of course some people's stares followed us as we chose an empty table in the less populated area of the cafeteria.

I ate my cheese sandwich delicately, munching very slowly to prolong the silence. Edward didn't start eating his lunch until I was halfway through.

He took one bite off his bagel. He looked at ease, but a little annoyed.

"Can I be honest?" I said finally, putting my food down.

Edward waited.

"I am confused as_ hell_ as to why I just spent the day like it's normal for you to walk with me in the hallways, or sit with you at lunch, or give me a ride to school." I frowned. "Are we friends now?"

He frowned too. "Well, I like to think so, or else today would be really awkward to look back on."

I laughed a little, which lightened the mood. "It's kinda awkward still, don't you think?"

He smiled, not denying what I said. "Are you doing anything this Saturday?"

"Are you asking me out?" I retorted, getting nervous.

He frowned at my not so welcoming response. "Will you say no?" He leaned forward, probably to make himself less audible to others.

"I don't know, you're not making it very easy for me to answer," I confessed. The atmosphere, the awkwardness, the strangeness of the situation stopped me from deciding.

Edward's cheeks were bright pink, and he bit the inside of his cheek, allowing me to see he was very uncomfortable. His brows furrowed together. "Will you go out with me this weekend?"

"You did it again!"

"I was just asking," he defended, very puzzled.

"This is all very awkward," I said. I joked, "Aren't you supposed to be smooth-talkin', proud-walkin' Edward Cullen? How did the other girls take your way of asking them out?" I pictured someone like Alice laughing really hard at Edward's confused expression.

He made a frustrated sound, squeezing his water bottle tightly. "You're... a bit more difficult," he mumbled.

"I know, I'm impossible to date," I muttered just as quietly. I sighed, thinking to myself, _There you go, Bella, adding awkwardness to the situation. Did you stumble on your words yet? Oh, yeah, you've been doing that all day_.

He sighed. "Well, I can't say I didn't try, can I?" He looked at me seriously, waiting for me to answer.

I felt it again, like I'd reached the falling action in a story. I could either do what I did to Jacob, or not. They say that things come quicker if you grab it.

"Do you like me?" I suddenly asked.

Edward smiled brightly. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Um," I said, looking down at my lunch. "Then I think you should date me."

He frowned, but before I could take back what I said, he said, "Mike Newton likes you. Does that mean he should date you, too?"

"Well, he's not here now, is he?"

"He's looking at us, so any minute he can come here and ask you."

"Ask me now, then."

"Do you want me to?"

"Do _you_?"

"Yes," Edward said.

"Then, yes," I said. There was a pause after that, when we realized we finally got to where we wanted to go before.

"So you _do_ like me," he said cheerfully.

I didn't answer, I just stood up and threw my trash out. He followed suit, but also carried our bags with him because the bell was about to ring.

* * *

_NINE: JUST A LITTLE CHAT  
_

- - - - - - - - -

The first thing Charlie said to me when he saw me at home, doing homework, was that I should start spending time with him more.

"You know, because you'll be going off to college soon, doing god knows what," he explained, sitting down on the couch across me. "We should go fishing. This Saturday sound good?"

I smiled. "Dad, does this have anything to do with Edward Cullen?"

"No!" he said quickly. He turned the television on, and kept his eyes glued on the screen. "I just think that this is the time to do all the father-daughter things we didn't really get to do."

I continued to stare him down.

Charlie looked at me, then he dropped his head. "OK, I'm sorry, Bella, but when were you going to tell me?" He sat up straight, putting the remote control down. "_Car_lisle told me that Edward is taking you someplace on Saturday. Carlisle, Bella, Carlisle! Were you two going to keep it secret, or something?" His eyes narrowed.

"No, _Dad_. It's been two days since he asked me. It's not exactly that big of a deal." A smile slipped out of my lips, telling him otherwise. "He's just taking me out."

"Where?" he asked, this time curious.

"We haven't discussed yet." I gritted my teeth together, remembering my arguments with Edward on that one. Movie? Beach? Dinner? Movie and dinner? At the end of the two days, we were still undecided. Yes, we were taking it slow.

"Make sure he doesn't _surprise_ you with your whereabouts," Charlie warned. "Next thing you know, you're in a cave somewhere, with no signal and no radio, and it's just the two of you alone..." His face changed color so quickly it was hard to soothe his horror.

I groaned. "I wish you'd relax and not make a big deal out of this." God knows my mind was reeling with ideas on how Saturday would play out.

* * *

_TEN: HOW IT WENT_

- - - - -  
- - - - -

"We're going to my house for barbecue on Saturday," Edward said in a wince, "with Carlisle, and Esme, and a few others. Your dad's invited too."

"Excuse me?" I said.

We were in his car, parked at the school. Just like yesterday and the day before, we arrived early. His hand would brush against mine, and sometimes he held my fingers, but it never stayed that way. As for me, my seat belt was the only thing my hand grabbed on to. Yeah, yeah, cowardly.

It was two days after Charlie's talk. When Edward picked me up for school, he'd looked uneasy, especially when he smiled at me and said good morning.

No wonder. Our first date would consist of a small party held by Mr. and Mrs. Cullen.

"I was hoping we'd be able to ditch their little get-together and go someplace else after a while," Edward mused.

I shook my head. "We don't have to do that." Actually, I preferred Charlie to see Edward when there are people around, than have Edward over for dinner one night and have Dad ask those questions that _need to be asked._

He looked at my face as if I'd grown something abnormal on it. Or something.

"What?" I asked, wiping my cheek with my palm. He followed my movement, and with his hand he guided mine from my face down toward my neck. I swallowed as quietly as I could, twice. Edward saw this and smiled, stopping whatever he was doing and held my hand instead.

Trying to lighten the mood, he asked, "So I was thinking maybe we should do something today."

"Go to the mall?" I suggested without much thought.

He scowled at the thought. "No. Too many people, especially on Fridays."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, if that's the case, then probably _every_ place will be crowded tonight."

"Not the beach." There was a bright and playful look in his eyes. "S'almost winter, only skimboarders and coin collectors will be there." He chuckled. "Wanna come?"

"Won't it be cold?"

He ignored me. "We'd watch the sun set early, maybe go someplace to eat, walk around, and stuff." Giving me a side glance, he smiled wide. "Well?"

"Alright," I said. "But it won't be much of a walk. I have poor stamina."

He laughed. "What are you talking about? You ran four laps around the track pretty good last year." I scrunched my nose at the memory.

By then the sun had shone on everything with a pale yellow. The school was still quiet, but occasionally a car's tires would break the silence with its crunching wheels on the parking lot.

"We should go." I reached for my backpack, but Edward snatched it before I did. He challenged me with a look.

"You want to go to class already?" he said.

I blushed. "Yeah, does that make me a geek?"

He outright laughed. "No, but probably only Eric Yorkie's going to be there."

He saw how my face fell slightly at mention of Eric. Edward coughed nervously, stifling his amusement. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry."

I smiled, weakly. "It's fine." I looked at my hands clasped on my lap, listening on to the noiseless air inside his car.

"Bella," he said solemnly, "remember in the summer, at the bookstore?" He waited for my acknowledgment, and I nodded so he continued. "You said, all those years, you acted the way you did to...fake bravery. Remember that?"

"Yes," I said slowly, the memory coming back to me just as sluggishly.

"Well, I want you to know," he held my hand tighter, "you're probably the bravest person I know."

I gave him a "what!" expression. I replaced it quickly with a roll of my eyes. "That was a long time ago."

Edward shook his head. "I guess what you need to know is, _I_ was the coward. _I_ wanted you to feel..." His mouth twisted to a near scowl, his eyes squinted in disgust.

He was looking at anywhere but me. "All my friends looked up to me back then, all because I was horrible to you. For a second I also thought I was brave and daring for it, but you talked to me and..." His hand was shaking a bit, I doubt he noticed.

When I removed my hand from his, it was only to touch his face so I could look into his eyes. "Hey, the past is the past."

"I really hope so."

I could tell his brooding mood wouldn't just go away. The bell rang and we had to go to class.

- - - - -  
- - - - -

When the lunch bell came around, Edward wasn't there. Jessica looked at me smugly, noticing as well.

"Guess he'd gotten back his senses finally," she said snidely before talking with her friend.

I made a point to _not_ freak out, because that would only catch people's attention. Instead I walked to my locker, hoping he would be at the lunch table but dreading it because, if Edward wasn't here with me now, who's to say he'd be with me later?

I didn't know how this type of almost-paranoid thinking started, but it caught me off guard.

Just as I opened my locker, I heard voices on the other hallway. Boys arguing. I listened.

"Newton, don't even dare."

"What's the big deal? It's not like—ooof!" I heard a thud.

I ran and saw what I did not want to see. Edward towering over the crumpled form of Mike Newton. They both gasped when they saw me.

"Bella!" Edward sounded appalled, which he should be.

How come there weren't any teachers around? No other students at all? "You really know which hallway to pick, don't you?" I observed, my voice so angry and calm I would describe it as nasty.

Mike looked up at Edward fearfully, then he looked at me, and I saw him smile. He wasn't hurt that much, I could tell, but he coughed like crazy and kept his fetal position on the floor.

Edward stuttered. "It isn't—I wasn't..." He looked at his closed fist, then glared at Mike.

As if on cue, the blond boy moaned in pain. Edward scowled and shoved him lightly with his foot.

"How _could_ you?" was the only thing I asked. I turned away, feeling my face go hot.

Silence.

* * *

_ELEVEN: TAKE IT EASY  
_

- - - - - -  
- - - - -

One step of the hero's journey is the return. Usually, this hard task is accomplished by finding balance and accepting what the hero has learned through his ordeal.

This thought has not left me for weeks. I don't know why it's so hard for me to go back.

More importantly, I don't know how I could've been so stupid to think I'd ever get to date him. I was so close, so close, wasn't I? _One_ day away from dating the jerk. That _bully_. Like all the rest of us girls, I fell for his good looks, and his _seem_ingly charming personality. Well, like I said, I'm just a girl too after all.

He'd been trying to talk to me. For two straight days, he apologized like _crazy_. And I ignored him, ignored everyone of them.

And, all too soon, he's given up. Maybe he's figured out how stubborn I could be.

I don't know where to go from there.

"Bella?" Charlie's voice was meek and small. His head peeked out the small slit of the open door.

"Hmm?" I moaned to my pillow. I coughed. "Yes?"

He opened the door wider. "Just... are you OK?"

I felt bad for making him feel like this. I sat up and turned on the bedside lamp, which was unnecessary because the sun was out still. "Yeah, I'm good, I'm good."

"I heard what happened."

"Of course you did," I muttered.

Charlie sat on my desk chair. He looked over my homework, busying his eyes over the untidy piles of papers. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No I feel fine," I said quickly.

The relief that showed on his red face was enough to make me smile. I stood up and told him I was going to take a shower, so our conversation would get cut short.

- - - - - -  
- - - - -

Actually, if you don't overreact, things seem much simpler than they really are. And that's exactly what I did—acted like every thing was a _small_ thing, and every problem was a _small_ problem, and no matter what it is, it is _small_ and insignificant and cannot ramshackle me like a U-Haul Truck splatting a squirrel.

It was sort of like having "Swallowed in the Sea" playing in the background the whole time. I felt so humbled, but I was melancholic.

It lasted three days, ended on that Friday. It's amazing how things move on.

So I was about to pull out my truck out of the parking lot, but, seeing there was a crowd of students nearby, I put the car back in park. Then Tyler Crowley was at my window, a wide grin on his face. "Bella?" he shouted.

"What?" I said, annoyed. I rolled the window down, because of course he couldn't hear me yet. "What?" I repeated.

When he spoke, he was sincere, "How ya doin'?"

I had to take a good look at him before I responded. "I'm good, Tyler, thanks," I said, pretty grateful.

Then his smile turned cheeky. "Maybe you feel good enough to say yes to me for a date?"

I laughed. "_What_," I said, amused. "You're actually serious."

He scratched the back of his head, a sign that surely meant he was nervous. "Well, yeah, now that you're free, I thought we could... you know."

"You know what?" I said. "Why not?"

"_Ex_cellent," he said excitedly. "See you then." He touched my cheek, which was a bit forward, but that's Tyler I guess, and told me he'd pick me up tonight.

Was it supposed to be this easy? I smiled and drove home, thinking about nothing in particular. I'd never felt so _nor_mal.

- - - - -  
- - - - - -

Tyler came by at eight sharp. The car ride was fine, the whole thing went by fine. We planned to watch a movie, but we were too late and the next viewing wouldn't be until midnight.

"Wanna skip right to dinner?" He said with smooth ease.

I raised a brow. "You're going by the book, aren't you?"

"Well, you know we don't have to follow any rules tonight. We can skip as many steps as we want."

"Tyler, _please_ tell me you did not say that," I laughed nervously to diffuse any seriousness the moment could entail. Tyler stumbled on his next words, but the rest of the night became unpleasant. He realized I was not expecting more than a date out of this.

So, by the end of the night, there was _still_ only one guy with me in my _imaginary_ dream date. Tonight I dreamt of Edward Cullen and I walking on the grass, hands held together.

* * *

_TWELVE: I BELONG TO YOU_

At school, Angela greeted me with a nervous smile on her face.

"What's happened?" I asked.

She nodded toward the Cullens. "Edward wants you."

I stared at her, shocked.

She laughed sheepishly. "I didn't mean it like that, sorry." She tried again. "He called me yesterday, and today he asked me where you were. I told him I usually don't see you till lunch." She was speaking faster as she went on, and she had a lot to say that morning. "Bella, I heard you and Tyler had a date. Anyway, I'm sorry I'm doing this to you but I hope you'll forgive me okay?"

"Angela what are you saying?" I was trying to lip-read by then. She wasn't even looking at me, she was looking at something over my shoulder. Something distracted her.

Someone's fingers brushed my own and I jumped, very startled. I turned around. "Edward?"

Again Angela spoke. "I'm sorry again Bella but I promised." Then Ben was at her side, pulling her to her class.

"What did you say to her?" I asked Edward. He looked better than he did in my dream last night.

"I didn't say anything," he said.

"Why do you keep on lying to me?"

He looked down at his feet. Then, he dropped the textbooks from his arm, and they fell with a loud snap on the pavement.

"You win, alright? One of us has to do it first, so _I'll_ put myself out there," he declared. Alice, who was passing by, gave him a weird stare, but otherwise she walked away. I didn't realize, of course, that her shrug was acted out so more students wouldn't stay to watch us.

"I hardly think _any_ explaining on your part would justify what you did to Mike," I said darkly.

"He deserved it," he said.

"Are you mental or something! Why, what the hell could he have done to make you punch him?"

"He wanted you!" he yelled, angry. I took a step back.

"And you didn't want that," I pointed out.

He laughed bitterly. "Everything I do... it has ironic endings. All I tried to do was to keep him out of your way so he won't bother you—"

"OK there may be a difference between _your _definition of bother and mine," I reasoned. "What, you got worried I'd choose Mike over you? After I've said yes to _you_, fully aware he liked me?"

It looked like he was looking at my shoulder. "I was... afraid. Afraid you'd come to your senses and," he faced another direction. "Leave me. Leave for anyone else _but_ me."

I stood rooted to that spot for five seconds. "I don't know what to ask you."

His dark green eyes, they looked so sad. "I'm serious about this, Bella. I very much want to be with you."

"Which brings us back to why you _lied_ to me!"

"Because of exactly this!" He waved his hand in between us. "If you saw the real me, how jealous I get when I see you talking with them, how _mad_ I become when I can't kiss you every second—" He gasped. I had my hand on top of his arm.

"Relax, Edward. Please?" I tried to follow my own advice.

"I didn't want to freak you out," he whispered, his eyes closed. "You hated me, but everyone kept saying I had a chance still. I didn't want to listen to them, to Jasper or Alice or Rose. But I _had_ to. I, Bella, I..." He opened his eyes, slowly sliding his hand on my cheek. "I've been so confused for a long time."

The school bell rang. I jumped a bit, the second time that day. Mr Banner yelled, "Hey! You two, get to class!" which did not help my hammering heart.

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling these things?" I guess he answered this question, he didn't want to freak me out, but I asked anyway.

"I've had the longest vision that I belong to you, but I didn't want you to know the real me, not so soon, anyway."

"But I already know that worst part of you," I reminded him, "I've been through it for years."

"How can you joke about it like that?" he wondered, brows furrowed together.

"Because I look at you and realize I don't regret forgiving you," I said simply.

He kissed me. I surprised myself when I grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged him lower, closer so I could make sure this was reality. The second bell rang, and we stopped the kiss, but damn I felt like everything was just going to get better.

* * *

**Note: **I wrote this story during the summer (that's why there's a part that says I just watched the Harry Potter movie recently, ;P) but I just could not finish it. I figured I should just come up with an ending rather than let it be another document that expires. Anyway, talking more about the present, I recently watched District 9 (and Star Trek, but I like D9). I like that movie very much. Oh, and I listened to that new album by Muse, The Resistance. Also, tonight my dad explained to me in detail how New York City's streets are organized. OK, bye.


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